The Melfort Mustangs hit the road today for their first meeting of the season with the Flin Flon Bombers. The Bombers(12-3-2-0) sit second in the SJHL while the Mustangs(11-4-2-1) sit third.
Traditionally games in Flin Flon are never easy, for any team in the SJHL, and this season is no exception. The Bombers are 7-2 at home and have been scoring in bunches. 42 home goals in just 9 games is a great start to go along with the 78 they’ve scored in total. That number is second only to the Battlefords(83 goals). Scoring has come from the big line for the Bombers of Alec Malo(33 Points), Donavon Houle-Villeneuve(29 Points) and Cole Rafuse(27 Points). The trio sit 1st, 3rd and 5th in overall league scoring. They’ve been doing a lot of it on the powerplay this year, as they have a combined 19 Power Play Goals and 32 Assists on those goals. They’ve been tough to stop in any rink this season. Between the pipes Jacob Delorme has been the guy for the Bombers. He’s made 10 appearances and has a 7-1-1 record to go along with a solid .903 save percentage and a 2.98 GAA. Matt Sanker has seen the second most amount of action assuming the backup roll. In 5 games, Sanker is 3-1-1 with a .936 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA.
For the Mustangs they split games this weekend against the Nipawin Hawks. With a 5-2 win on home ice Friday, the Mustangs took a lead in Nipawin Saturday, but ultimately fell by a 2-1 final. By splitting the weekend, the Hawks remain 5 points back of the Mustangs with 2 games in hand. The next meeting between the Mustangs and Hawks isn’t until they renew another home and home on December 20th and 21st.
Offensively, Dman Nolan Kadachuk was recognized this week. Nolan picked up 3 Assists in 3 Games and was named the SJHL Defenceman of the week! This isn’t the first time he’s been honored as he’s picked up Defenceman or Runner Up for Defenceman of the week a few times now. Kadachuk is off to a great start this season with 3 Goals and 15 Assists for 18 points. He currently sits 2nd among SJHL Defenceman on the season.
| GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 26 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 25 | ||||||||||
| 4 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 5 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 6 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 7 | 20 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 9 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 11 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 12 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
Tonight’s game begins at 6:30pm Saskatchewan time. Note it is an earlier start time thanks to daylight savings and a 1 hour earlier Manitoba game. So have your supper slightly earlier this evening as you can catch the game on HockeyTV or with Mat Barrett on 750 Beach Radio.
Photo Credit: Kelly Jacobson photography
