Following losses of 7-5 to Melville and 4-3 to Estevan, as well as a 4-4 tie with Moose Jaw, the Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers of the SSMHL Midget Division now find themselves on the outside looking in on the playoff race.
Tied with the Notre Dame Hounds and Estevan Apex Bruins at 35 points each, the Kinsmen Terriers, by virtue of their overall record, sit in ninth place with just two regular season games remaining in the schedule.
Estevan has five games left while Notre Dame has three.
Thursday the Kinsmen Terriers welcomed the rival Melville Millionaires to the Farrell Agencies Arena.
Yorkton struck first on a Josh Rohatynsky goal early in the first, however four straight Mils goals, one by Cole Rathgeber and three by Brooks Fleury, gave the visitors a 4-1 lead after one period.
A pair of Melville goals by Mitchell Cook book ended a Kholton Shewchuk power play marker in the second to give Melville a 6-2 lead after two periods, but three quick goals, one each by Matthew Wilgosh, Caleb Sutter and Brodie Ottenbreit made it a 6-5 Melville lead before Rathgeber officially ended the comeback with an empty net goal with 13 seconds remaining in the game.
Alex Geddes shouldered the loss while Braidon Berezowski picked up the win for Melville.
Two days later the Kinsmen Terriers were once again in action, this time hosting Estevan in a key game at the Kinsmen Arena.
Kinsmen Terrier captain Kholton Shewchuk made it 1-0 Yorkton in the first, but Estevan’s Colton Gingras answered less than 30 seconds later to knot the game at one.
A second period Tayon Metzler marker made it 2-1 Yorkton, but two Estevan goals, one each by Kolten Ganson and Colton Winton, gave the visitors a 3-2 lead after two periods.
Estevan’s Preston Brodziak made it 4-2 for the Bruins early in the third before Rohatynsky made it 4-3 with a power play goal late in the game. However that was as close as Yorkton would get as they fell 4-3.
Geddes once again took the loss while Cam Lavoie was the winning goaltender.
Sunday’s game saw the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors take a 1-0 lead on a Jeremy Bisson goal into the second period before the Kinsmen Terriers responded with a Shewchuk man advantage marker just nine seconds into the middle frame.
Three straight Warrior goals, one in the second by Rylan Mayson-Blacklaws and two in the third off the sticks of Kaleb Bell and Payton Fisher put Yorkton in a three goal hole, however three straight goals, one each by Wilgosh, Shewchuk and Metzler, drew the game even and allowed the host Terriers to salvage one very important point.
The Kinsmen Terriers now need to win their remaining two games and hope that the Notre Dame Hounds or Estevan Apex Bruins struggle in their final few games of the season in order to secure a playoff spot.
Next up
The next action for the Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers (14-15-7) of the SSMHL’s Midget Division will be this Sunday when they visit the streaking Weyburn Lightstream Wings (8-23-5).
