The Melfort Mustangs will welcome Sher-Wood Division rival the La Ronge Ice Wolves to the Northern Lights Palace tonight. It’s the fourth meeting in Melfort and eighth and final time the clubs will see each other in the regular season. So far La Ronge holds a 4-3 advantage in the season series. With a Melfort win the teams will split the regular season series.
The Mustangs currently have points in 3 straight, against Kindersley, Weyburn and Estevan. Austin Nault made his Mustang debut at the start of the current three game point streak, picking up points in each game. In 3 games with Melfort, Nault has 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points. On the season he’s a shade over a point per game, now sitting with 24 points in just 22 games. Tonight also marks the end of a 3 game home stand for the Mustangs. After tonight’s contest they head on the road to play Battleford and Kindersley. They return home for 5 straight home games next week. Between the pipes Shawn Parkinson has played the last 2 games, earning the SJHL’s runner up for Goaltender of the Week in the process. Parkinson went 1-0-1 last week with a .920 save percentage. On the season Parkinson is 17-10-3-1 with a 2.70 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
The La Ronge Ice Wolves come into tonight’s game after splitting their last 4. They dropped a 6-2 decision to the Battlefords North Stars. But followed that up by hammering Weyburn 6-0, and Estevan 9-2. They dropped their most recent game to Flin Flon 6-4 on Saturday. For the remainder of the season La Ronge will play 6 on the road, including tonight. While also hosting 4 at the Mel. Daylon Mannon continues to lead the Ice Wolves in scoring, as he has all season. His 68 points put him 4th in the SJHL, while his 31 goals are third most. Ice Wolves Goaltender Liam McGarva is second in the SJHL in minutes played. He also leads the league in wins with 21, but sits just 10th among active goaltenders with a 3.16 goals against average.
Head to Head 2019-20 Season
Sept 17 2019 – Melfort 6 @ La Ronge 4
Oct 1 2019 – Melfort 3 @ La Ronge 4 F/OT
Nov 20 2019 – La Ronge 3 @ Melfort 1
Nov 29 2019 – La Ronge 0 @ Melfort 3
Nov 30 2019 – Melfort 0 @ La Ronge 3
Dec 10 2019 – Melfort 4 @ La Ronge 3 F/SO
Jan 15 2020 – La Ronge 3 @ Melfort 2
Feb 5 2020 – La Ronge @ Melfort
| SJHL Standings | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | |
| 1 | xy – Battlefords North Stars | 49 | 39 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 80 |
| 2 | Flin Flon Bombers | 46 | 31 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 67 |
| 3 | Nipawin Hawks | 48 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 57 |
| 4 | Yorkton Terriers | 48 | 27 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 56 |
| 5 | Melfort Mustangs | 46 | 24 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 55 |
| 6 | La Ronge Ice Wolves | 48 | 25 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 55 |
| 7 | Humboldt Broncos | 50 | 22 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 53 |
| 8 | Estevan Bruins | 47 | 22 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 48 |
| 9 | Kindersley Klippers | 48 | 19 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 45 |
| 10 | Notre Dame Hounds | 47 | 17 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 39 |
| 11 | Weyburn Red Wings | 48 | 18 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 38 |
| 12 | Melville Millionaires | 45 | 14 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 34 |
Tonight’s game starts at 7:30pm from the Northern Lights Palace. There is no radio broadcast so it’s a great night to come to the Northern Lights Palace!
Photo Credit: Broad Leaf Media
