Mustangs Force Game 7
Photo Credit: Simple Shots By Jackie Kishaun Gervais had a pair of goals, while JD Hall had a goal and a helper, but it wasn’t enough as the Melfort Mustangs were victorious 5-3 to force a game 7. Ben Tkachuk and Nolan Doell led the way offensively for the Mustangs with a goal and an assist, while Joel Favreau made 28 saves in the win.
The Mustangs opened the scoring early in the first period. A bouncing puck at the side of the Terrier goal found its way to Tkachuk, who shoveled it home for his first goal of the playoffs. Melfort quickly made it 2-0. Off an offensive zone face-off, a wrist shot from the point by Mark Snarr was deflected by Seth McCulloch past Kael DePape. Melfort wasn’t done scoring in the first period. Lots a zone time eventually led to the puck finding Leith Olafson at the blue-line, and the Melfort defender threw it through a maze of bodies in front of DePape to make it 3-0 after 20 minutes of play.
The Mustangs extended their lead to 4-0 in the second period. A bounce off the back boards, and Marco Lopez picked up the loose puck at the right side of Yorkton’s goal, squeezing it through DePape for his third goal of the playoffs. Yorkton finally responded late in the second. A point shot from Tyson Janzen hit a body in front of Favreau and landed perfectly for JD Hall, who slid the puck home for his first goal of the postseason. Terriers made it 4-2 shortly afterwards. Gervais finished off a pretty passing play between him, Karsten Kruska and Hall, for Gervais’ 3rd goal of the series.
Melfort restored their three goal lead in the third period. Tkachuk picked up a loose puck in behind DePape’s cage and centered it for Doell, who made no mistake, giving Melfort a 5-2 lead. Yorkton scored on the power-play shortly after the Doell marker. Erik Boers pulled the puck out of a scrum in the corner and found a wide open Gervais at the backdoor, for his second goal of the night, making it 5-3. The Terriers pressed but couldn’t cut anymore into the Mustang lead, and the final buzzer sounded on game 6.
Game 7 will be at the Northern Lights Palace on Tuesday night. GX 94 will broadcast the game with the pregame show starting at 7:20pm, and play-by-play beginning at 7:30pm.