The power-play struck twice but it wasn’t enough for the Yorkton Terriers, as they fell to the Melfort Mustangs 3-2 in a shootout. Parker Jasper scored his first career SJHL goal, while Clay Sleeva has goals in three straight games.
After a quiet first period, the action exploded in the second. On a 4-on-3 power-play, Jasper rifled a point shot past a screened James Venne to make it 1-0 Yorkton. The Terriers made it 2-0, again on the power-play, when Jasper found Sleeva, staring at a wide-open net and he made no mistake. Melfort answered quickly when Tye Scherger found a wide open Marco Lopez who beat Kael DePape with a smartly placed shot. The three goals were all scored in a span of 2:08. Lopez tied the game at 2, receiving another pass from Scherger and wristing a shot past DePape. Melfort had a chance to take their first lead of the game when the puck took a strange bounce off the glass in Yorkton’s zone, but DePape managed to scramble back into his net to deny the Mustangs.
The third period saw both teams throw the body around, including Erik Boers leveling two Mustangs early in the period. The Terriers had a chance to win the game in the final minute on the power-play. Venne robbed Boers not once but twice, the first on a one-timer from the slot, and the second with a right pad save just as the buzzer sounded.
Overtime saw both teams with chances on their own power-plays but they couldn’t solve the net-minders. Best chance went to Melfort where Ben Tkachuck received a backdoor pass, only to have DePape come across and rob him.
It was was decided in a shootout. Melfort received goals from Tye Evans and Seth McCulloch, Yorkton’s goal scorer was JD Hall, and the Mustangs left Westland Insurance Arena with two points.
Yorkton will visit the Estevan Bruins on Tuesday night. The game will be broadcast on GX 94 with the pre-game show at 6:50pm and the play-by-play kicking off at 7:00pm.
