Kevin McBain
of The Clarion
The Kindersley Red Lions split their weekend road games, losing 9-7 in Luseland on Saturday after defeating Kerrobert 5-4 in a shootout on Friday.
The Red Lions now have a record of 3-2-1 on the Sask West Hockey League season. The senior A squad hopes to improve on that this weekend as they host Macklin on Friday night and Kerrobert on Saturday.
Last Saturday, the Red Lions, got off to a quick start. Jessey Pocock started the scoring parade just 30 seconds into the game. Three minutes later, captain Jonny Calkins would bulge the twine and a minute later, Brandon Cummings would add to the lead.
Ricky Iron and Ryan Corrigal would answer to bring the Mallards within one, before Pocock chipped in his second with 45 seconds remaining in the period to make it 4-2.
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Corrigal and Kelsey Muench scored for the Mallards just over a minute apart to even the score 4-4 near the midway point of the second frame. Jesse Ismond gave the Red Lions the lead again with back-to-back markers in the second half of the period. But again the Mallards responded with Steven Gottfried scoring near the end of the period to make the score 6-5.
The Mallards again would score two straight in the third period, taking a 7-6 lead thanks to goals from Iron. Ismond scored unassisted at the 12:06 mark to tie things up.
Again, the Mallards responded with Muench getting the eventual game winner and Corrigal adding an empty-netter to close things off.
The two teams combined for 101 shots, with the Red Lions outshooting the Mallards 53-48.
Coach Wayne Samson said it was a game they probably should have won.
“The special teams are what killed us this time,” he said. “We were up 3-0, but then they would go ahead and score four power play goals and three shorthanded goals and an empty-netter on us. They actually scored just one five-on-five goal.
“They are a real good offensive team,” he continued. “We feel that we outplayed them but we definitely have to tighten up our specialty teams.”
Travis Vogel was in net for the Red Lions and stopped 39 of 47 shots he faced. Alex Orth picked up the win for the Mallards.
In Kerrobert on Friday night, the Red Lions played shorthanded, without defencemen Kyle Cummings and Cody Hobbs.
The Tigers outshot their visitors 56-19 and it was a game the Red Lions probably didn’t deserve to win, according to Samson.
“They were definitely prepared for us and played real well, but our guys battled hard,” he said. “They outshot us by a lot, but a lot of them were from long range, so it’s a little deceiving. It’s about quality, not quantity.
“But young Luke Sproule played outstanding for us and kept us in the game,” he added of the goalie.
The score was 2-1 after one period, with Shayne Neigum and Calkins scoring for the Red Lions and Jordan Braid responding for the home side.
In the second, Calkins added another to give his team a 3-1 lead. But Brad Buckingham and Austin Galipeau responded for the Tigers in the final minute to tie things up before the intermission.
In the third, the teams exchanged goals. Scott Brownlee scored for the Red Lions, then Travis Eggum responded for the Tigers.
In the shootout, DJay McGrath and Jessey Pocock scored, while Sproule stopped Jeremy Boyer and Jorden Braid to get the win.
“I think the Tigers were a little surprised to see the young kid, Pocock, out there, but he has some great hands and is very good one-on-one,” said Samson. “Again, Sproule stopped some very good players in Jeremy Boyer and Jordan Braid to secure the win.”
The Red Lions hope to move up the standings this weekend, hosting Macklin on Friday at 8:30 p.m. and Kerrobert on Saturday at 8 p.m.
“Macklin is a real fast team and they’ll come to play hard. We hope to have Jesse Ismond back. He suffered a lower back injury in Luseland and he’s a big part of our team,” said Samson. “We have to stay on our toes.
“We have to do the same against Kerrobert. They’ll be hungry to get a win in our barn,” he said. “We can’t take them lightly. They have a solid team all the way through. But we should have a full squad and we will be ready.”
SWHL standings: 1. Wilkie 6-0; 2. Macklin 5-2; 3. Unity 4-3; 4. Biggar 4-4; 5. Kindersley 3-2-1; 6. Luseland 2-3; 7. Eatonia 1-4; 8. Kerrobert 1-4.
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