The Yorkton RawTec Maulers of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League split a two-game series with the Prince Albert Mintos over the past weekend.
The Mintos currently sit in fifth place in the league, and the Maulers are in sixth. Only one point separates the two teams.
The series kicked off on Saturday evening at a neutral rink in Kamsack. The Maulers took the win with a final score of 3-1.
The first period ended without a goal from either team.
In the second, the Mintos scored what would be their only goal of the game on a power play.
The third period gave the Maulers the goals they needed to win. The first was scored by Austin Shumanski with assists from Derrick Budz and Ty Kotylak. The second goal was scored by Zach Halvorson with assists from Carson Benning and Beau Stevenson. And the third and final goal was scored by Kishuan Gervais with an assist from Josh Bear.
On Sunday, the series moved to the Farrell Agencies Arena in Yorkton for an afternoon contest.
The game did not have the same result for the Maulers, and they fell 7-2 to the Mintos.
The first Yorkton goal was scored in the first period by Keenan Sperling, with assists from Kaeden Korczak and Ryder Pierson. This goal came after two from the Mintos, ending the first period in a score of 2-1.
The second period saw no goals from the Maulers, but the Mintos continued to increase their score count with two more goals.
In the third, the Maulers landed one more goal from Kaleb Bulych with assists from Derrick Budz and Josh Bear, but it would not be enough to overcome the deficit.
After Sunday鈥檚 game, Maulers鈥� head coach Graham Garrett said the team just didn鈥檛 do their jobs and that resulted in the loss.
鈥淟ast night鈥檚 game we played a great third period. We came back and did what we needed to do 鈥� we stayed out of the penalty box for the most part,鈥� said Garrett.
Garrett said in Sunday鈥檚 game, they had some good looks and good opportunities, but didn鈥檛 get the finishes they needed and instead went down the wrong path.
鈥淲e needed to stay out of the penalty box, stay focused and put some pressure on them. Instead, we just hit the self destruct button and sat in the penalty box and allowed them to score and take the game.鈥�
When asked what the difference between the games was, Garrett said it comes down to sticking to the game plan and playing as a unit.
鈥淚t takes 20 guys to win a game. It just seems like we can鈥檛 find consistency of guys being on the same page. We have guys who are not understanding what needs to be done each and every game,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome of it is just guys not buying in to the team concept and instead focusing on individualism.鈥�
The RawTec Maulers are now on break for Christmas, which Garrett said will hopefully give them the chance to reboot and refocus.
鈥淚t would have been a lot better [of a time for break] coming off of two wins in fifth place,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t seems that every time we have the opportunity to get us into that solid playoff spot, we don鈥檛 take the opportunity and run with it.鈥�
The RawTec Maulers are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 7 in Saskatoon. They return to home ice on Wednesday, Jan. 11 when they face the Notre Dame Hounds at the Farrell Agencies Arena at 8:00 p.m.
