With a trio of wins over the last seven days the Yorkton Xerox Terriers of the SBAAHL have ran their league-best undefeated streak to 22 games.
The three results 鈥� a 6-2 win over Melville, a 4-0 shutout win over the Regina Pat Blues and a 3-2 victory over the Regina Monarchs 鈥� also increases the Xerox Terriers鈥� (19-1-4, 42 pts) lead in the SBAAHL 麻豆传媒AV Division to 10 over the second place Estevan TS&M Bruins (14-5-4, 32 pts). The Regina Aces (11-8-3) and Regina Monarchs (10-10-2) round out the top four with 25 and 22 points respectively, while Weyburn (9-9-3) is fifth wit 21 points.
Sixth belongs to the Regina Pat Blues (8-11-2) for the time being at 18 points, two ahead of seventh place Moose Jaw (6-11-4) who have 16 points.
The Prairie Storm (7-11-1), Notre Dame Hounds (4-16-3), Swift Current Kabos Raiders (3-14-4) and Melville Millionaires (1-18-1) round out the 麻豆传媒AV Division with 15, 11, 10 and 3 points respectively while in the North Division the Humboldt Broncos continue to lead the way with a sparkling 16-3-3 record for 35 points.
The Saskatoon Generals (13-6-3) are second in the North with 29 points, one ahead of the Sask Valley Vipers (13-8-2) and three above the fourth place Prince Albert Venice House Raiders (12-7-2) and fifth place Saskatoon Outlaws (11-6-4) who both have 26 points.
The Saskatoon Stallions (10-5-4) sit in sixth place with 24 points while the Northeast Wolf Pack (9-10-2) are seventh with 20 points. The Battlefords Barons (8-12-3), Saskatoon Frostbite (6-11-5) and West Central Wheat Kings (3-11-9) round out the North with 19, 17 and 15 points.
Weekend victory
On the weekend the Xerox Terriers headed to the Queen City to battle two of Regina鈥檚 finest SBAAHL teams, taking on the Pat Blues on Saturday before battling the Monarchs on Sunday.
Saturday鈥檚 game started off slowly for Yorkton as they managed just one goal in the opening stanza 鈥� a Zach McIntyre marker for a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The second period was better for the Xerox Terriers. Despite finding themselves down a man three times the Xerox Terriers still managed to increase their lead twice as both Kishaun Gervais and Colby Vranai scored shorthanded to make it a 3-0 Yorkton advantage through two periods.
McIntyre鈥檚 second goal of the game made it 4-0 Yorkton late in the third period 鈥� more than enough for Yorkton net minder Spencer Welke who picked up his first shutout win of the season.
Sunday鈥檚 game was much different, as the Regina Monarchs were the ones to open the scoring when Cole Hudy snapped the puck past Nolan Maier for a 1-0 Regina lead.
Vranai evened the score with 4:16 remaining in the first period before Jackson Berezowski fired the puck past Monarch goalie Jared Thompson for a 2-1 Yorkton lead through 20 minutes of play.
The second period provided the fans in attendance with just one goal; a Matthew Shewchuk power play marker with 7:43 remaining in the period to even the game at two after 40 minutes.
Yorkton regained their one goal cushion just before the seven minute mark of the final period when Kishaun Gervais redirected the puck past Thompson to give Yorkton a 3-2 lead.
The Yorkton defence then shut down the Monarch offence the rest of the way, resulting in a 3-2 Yorkton victory. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just one of those times when you have to win on the road,鈥� offered Xerox Terrier head coach Dan Cross, adding that the two weekend wins are thanks in large part to the penalty kill, which went 13-14 on the road trip and scored two of the seven weekend goals. 鈥淲e had to kill off a lot of penalties and we had to battle through and get some greasy goals to win the game.
鈥淭he boys just seem to find a way to kill off the penalties and get those wins when we need them and I thought we played really well all weekend.鈥�
The play of net minder Nolan Maier also impressed Cross, who says that having someone as skilled as Maier between the pipes not only helps him out, but it also allows the team to relax more on the ice. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a calming influence, especially in a game like today where we had lots of penalties,鈥� mentioned Cross, adding that the goaltender is the last line of defence. 鈥淵our best penalty killer is always your goalie and he just showed his dominance there.
鈥淭hey had a couple of five-on-threes and we were scrambling around a bit and he bailed us out there and that鈥檚 what we needed from him to get the win.鈥�
Wednesday win
Last Wednesday the Yorkton Xerox Terriers made the short trip down Highway 10 to battle their SBAAHL rivals the Melville Millionaires.
Things didn鈥檛 start out well for the Terriers as Melville鈥檚 Blake Rasmuson gave the home side a 1-0 lead early on.
A power play goal by Gervais tied the game at one just before the midway point of the opening frame, but a Monty Driver marker with less than two minutes to go in the period gave Melville a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play.
A scoreless second period saw the Xerox Terriers do everything but score as they peppered Mils net minder Rylee Bunz with 15 shots; however Bunz stood tall to keep it a 2-1 Melville lead through 40 minutes.
Bunz continued his strong play early on in the third period, turning aside several Yorkton scoring chances. Unfortunately for Melville however, their goalie couldn鈥檛 stop them all and with 4:29 gone in the third Yorkton equalized as Jackson Berezowski scored to make it 2-2.
The Berezowski marker opened the flood gates for the Yorkton offence as they scored four more times in the final period to rout the Mils 6-2. McIntyre and Vranai scored in the third for Yorkton while Berezowski added two more for the hat-trick.
Spencer Welke picked up the win stopping 9-of-11 Melville shots while Bunz shouldered the loss turning aside 40-of-46 Yorkton tries.
Up next
The Xerox Terriers (19-1-4) have but one game this weekend when they travel to Emerald Park to play the Prairie Storm (7-11-1) on Friday.
