YORKTON - Long-time rivals, the Yorkton Terriers and Melville Millionaires are battling for top spot in the SJHL Viterra Division this season.
The two teams met in a home-and-home set over the weekend, and both teams defended their home ice with wins.
Friday, the Terriers jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the Westland Insurance Arena in Yorkton thanks to a powerplay effort from Jeff Hammond 3:30 into the contest.
Jason Desnoyers scored his 10th goal of the season – tied for league best with Humboldt’s Jacon Strizzi – at 7:55 to make it 2-0.
A powerplay effort from David Coyle at 9:24 made it 3-0.
Flynn Maxcy finally put the visiting Mills on the board at 15:06 scoring a man-advantage marker, and taking the game to the third period with the home side up 3-1.
Goals by Tylan Henrikson at 14:43 and Tyler Pain at 19:18 rounded out a 5-1 Terrier win.
Callum Creig was in the Terrier net facing 22-shots, while Loic Morin faced 24 for the Mills.
There were goals aplenty a night later as the team met in Melville.
A powerplay goal by Dustin Renas as 9:29 gave Yorkton a short-lived lead, as Peyton Allard responded for the Mills 31-seconds later.
The Terriers inched ahead again as Keenan Ingram scored on the powerplay at 12:52, only to have Caden Drury knot things 2-2 at 15:50.
A goal with only 34 ticks left in the first from Vinay Junek again inched Yorkton ahead through 20-minutes.
Riley Craigen at 16:37 and Alex Morrison at 18:56 scored the only goals of the middle stanza and the Millionaires were up 4-3 through 40-minutes of action.
Aiden Knutson tied things with a Terrier goal at 8:40.
A powerplay effort by Simon Parini at 13:53 would prove the eventual game-winner as Melville moved ahead 5-4, with Caden Drury providing an insurance marker into an empty net at the 19:00 to round out a 6-4 win.
Ethan Farrow took the loss facing 51 shots, while Morin and Nick Genette both spent time in the Mills’ net facing a combined 37-shots.
The split leaves Yorkton atop the Viterra with 16 points, one up on Melville, two up on Weyburn and eight ahead of Estevan.
Up next the Terriers are in Flin Flon Tuesday, then play in LaRonge Wednesday, with a trip to Kindersley Friday.
