WEYBURN – The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings split their season-ending games against their Highway 39 rivals, the Estevan Bruins, beating them 4-0 on Friday in Estevan and then being edged out 5-4 in a tight game at home on Saturday night.
The win and loss, combined with a 7-2 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday, gave the Red Wings second place in the Viterra Division, and sixth place in the SJHL overall. They finished the regular season with a record of 26 wins, 24 losses and six shootout losses for a total of 58 points, ahead of Estevan’s 56 points.
The team held their season-end awards night on Sunday night, just before the playoffs are set this week by the league.
In Friday night’s shutout win, Sam Callahan was first on the board for the Wings in the first period, assisted by Blake Betson and Carter Briltz, followed two and a half minutes later by Nick Kovacs, assisted by Tyler Teasdale and Braigh LeGrandeur.
In the second period, LeGrandeur scored one of his own to make the score 3-0, assisted by Jacob Visentini, and Max Monette capped off the night with an empty netter in the third, assisted by Matthew Hodson and Jerome Maharaj.
Dazza Mitchell, a candidate for SJHL Goalie of the Year, got his third shutout of the season, stopping all 33 shots made on net, and earning the game’s first star.
On Saturday, it was a tight game all the way through, with the score tied at 2-2 after the first period, and 4-4 after the second.
In the first period, after being down 2-0, Maharaj and Jaxson Ruthven set each other up for a goal each, and 52 seconds into the second period, Lucas Schmid scored to temporarily give the Wings a lead.
Estevan then scored twice before Ruthven scored his second of the night, while on the power play, assisted by Teasdale and Colin Doherty to tie the game at 4-4.
The Bruins scored their winning goal with about four and a half minutes to go in the game to give them the victory.
Angelo Zol was in net for the Red Wings, saving 36 of the 41 shots made on him.
Saturday also saw the season-long Big 50/50 come to a close, and for the game, the Young Fellows Club guaranteed a final pot of at least $10,000. In the end, the Red Wings came away with $21,615, while the winners took home the same amount.
The playoff brackets have been set for the quarter-final series, and the Red Wings will face the Humboldt Broncos in the opening series, starting on Friday, March 22, in Humboldt.
The best-of-seven series will go Friday and Saturday in Humboldt, then will be in Weyburn for games 3 and 4 on Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27, at 7 p.m. each night.
If needed, game 5 will be back in Humboldt on Friday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m.; in Weyburn on Sunday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m., and game 7 will go Tuesday, April 2 in Humboldt at 7:30 p.m.
