The Yorkton Terriers dropped both ends of a home-and-home set with rival Melville in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action on the weekend.
The two losses leave Yorkton with an unlucky 13 wins on the season with one game left on the schedule, and an overall record of 13-9-3-2 for 31 points, 19 back of rival Melville, who have 50 in the Viterra Division. Estevan leads the Viterra with 69, with Weybun second with 62.
In Melville
The teams met Friday at the home of the Millionaires.
Chantz Petruic struck 7:35 into the game to give the Terriers a 1-0 with the only goal of the opening 20-minutes.
In the second Damian Centz tied the contest with a powerplay goal 3:02 into the frame.
Clayton Eisler scored at 6:07, and Montana Streit added a powerplay goal at 14:34 to extend the Melville lead to 3-1 before Austen Flaman responded with a Yorkton goal to make it 3-2 through 40-minutes of play.
A powerplay goal by Daniels Libertuy 4:18 into the third made it a 4-2 game, before Flaman again scored for Yorkton to draw the Terriers back to within one at 4-3.
Tyler Millar would put the game away for the host Millionaires scoring an unassisted marker at 16:49 to round out a 5-3 Melville win.
Joe Marcouiller was in the Terrier nets for the loss facing 33-shots, while Brandon Wells took the win for Melville facing 26-shots.
鈥淥n Friday I really thought we played good,鈥� said Terrier head coach Mat Hehr, but he added the Millionaires got a couple of bounces and the win.
On Terrier ice
The teams met again Saturday at the Farrell Agencies Arena in Yorkton, with neither team managing a first period goal.
In the second the Mills pulled out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Taylor Elmy and Logan Foster.
Montana Streit made it 3-0 for the visitors 2:52 into the third.
The Terriers finally got on the board with a powerplay goal by Matthew Jones at 11:31 to round out a 3-1 win for Melville.
Ben Laidlaw was tagged with the loss in the Terrier net facing 25-shots, with Colby Entz taking the win for the Mills facing 16-shots.
鈥淪aturday we were pretty flat the first two periods, but we did answer in the third,鈥� said Hehr, adding the pushback just wasn鈥檛 enough to overcome the Melville lead.
Hehr said the game did end on an unfortunate note, with the Millionaires going to centre ice in Yorkton and saluting the fans.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate,鈥� said the Terrier coach, adding it is a situation players will respond to next season.
Up next
The Terriers held their annual awards night Mar. 7 at the Gallagher Centre.
They will round out the 2017-18 season on Mar. 9, hosting Weyburn at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
Hehr said the message after the losses to Melville on the weekend was clear: Make sure they give it everything they have against the Wings because a win would at least give fans something positive to remember over the summer.
鈥淲e need to play our best hockey for 60-minutes,鈥� he said.
