A nine game winning streak came to an end for the Yorkton Terriers this week, but after the loss in Estevan Tuesday they started a new streak with a pair of home ice wins.
By virtue of the two wins the Terriers hold onto first place in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Sherwood Conference with a 23-8-0-1 record and 47 points, two better than Notre Dame with 45.
Melville sits third in the Conference with 41 points, followed by Kindersley with 28, Estevan with 24 and Weyburn with 20.
The 47-point top spot, and its accompanying SJHL .734 winning percentage has the Terriers rated fourth in the nation in this week's Canadian Junior Hockey League top-20 list, up from sixth a week earlier.
The Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League are rated number one.
The latest win came Saturday as the Terriers hosted Estevan at Farrell Agencies Arena.
The Bruins, who had defeated Yorkton Tuesday on their home ice, failed to get on the scoreboard as Dawson MacAuley earned a Terrier shut-out stopping all 24-shots he faced.
Dallas Rossiter scored 11:50 into the first period for the Terriers, a goal which was ultimately the game-winner.
Jeremy Johnson added a second Terrier goal in the first period.
Daylan Gatzke and Patrick Martens scored in the second period.
Nathan Murray and Kailum Gervais added third period markers to complete a 6-0 win.
MacAuley said the shut out felt great especially after losing a shut out bid in the final three-minutes of a game Dec. 9 in Yorkton.
"That last game (at home), I just let one slip in," he said, adding he has had "three or four" starts this season where he had "a goal go in late."
"So to get that first shut out of the year is a really nice feeling."
MacAuley also admitted it stung to lose to Estevan earlier in the week, so getting a shut-out in response to the loss was big. He added the Bruins have been pesky all season.
"You can never take them too lightly," he said, recalling "they were the first team to beat us at home (this season)."
So what was the difference in the win?
"We played a full 60-minutes," offered MacAuley, adding while being tough on offence the Terriers found ways to score too.
MacAuley said the season has gone well for him, after a trying campaign a year earlier when three goaltenders and a couple of Western Hockey League call-ups meant limited games.
"This year is only half over and I've played more than last year," he said, adding getting a chance for regular minutes "is really nice. It's something I've been looking for."
Friday the Melfort Mustangs visited the Terriers.
Devon McMullen and Patrick Martens scored 18-seconds apart in the first period to give the Terriers a 2-0 lead before Jarrett Zentner responded on the powerplay for the Mustangs late in the frame.
Terrier Jeremy Johnson scored the only goal of the second period.
Adam Fauchoux scored 1:11 into the third period to draw Melfort within one.
Curtis Oliver restored a two-goal Terrier lead with a goal at 5:47.
Anthony Pickering responded for Melfort 1:19 later.
Then 2:15 later Martens added a powerplay goal at 9:21 to complete Yorkton's 5-3.
Kale Thomson was in the Terrier net for the win facing 26-shots, while Jesse Wilkins took the loss facing 34-shots in the Melfort goal.
Looking at the wins over the Mustangs and Bruins, Terrier head coach Trent Cassan said he liked the way the offence rolled, noting "we had six different scorers tonight (against Estevan) and four last night."
The wins on home ice are always big, said Cassan.
"We have a lot of confidence on home ice," he said
Last Tuesday
The Terriers were in Estevan Dec. 11, where a nine-game win streak came to an end at the hands of a hot Bruin goaltender.
Estevan's Steven Glass would turn away 44 of 46-shots in a 4-2 Bruin win.
Gervais and Derek Falloon had the Yorkton goals, both in the third period.
Taylor Reich scored for Estevan in the first period, with Nick Weiss and Darcy DeRoose adding third period markers, DeRoose's goal past goaltender Dawson MacAuley proving the game-winner.
Hudson Morrison added an empty-netter for the Bruins to complete the 4-2 win.
Cassan said the Terriers could have won the game.
"Even though we lost the game we had some pretty good scoring chances," he said, adding Glass had a strong game in the Bruin net.
Up next
The Terriers were scheduled to host Notre Dame last night (Tuesday), but results from the home game were not available at press time.
While the game could be for a share of first place for the Hounds, Cassan said he is not putting too much significance into the outcome, win, or lose.
"You can't put too much stock into one game," he said.
Cassan said regardless of the outcome he expects the Hounds and Terriers to battle it out all season.
"It's going to be tight all season," he predicted.
The Terriers, and the rest of the SJHL will be on Christmas break for more than a week.
Yorkton gets back to action with Melville visiting the Farrell Agencies Arena Dec. 30.
The Terriers head to Melville New Year's Day for a 2:00 p.m. start time.
