The Prince Albert Mintos hoped Ashton Tait would add an offensive spark when he returned from the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, and that’s exactly what happened Wednesday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
Tait scored a hat trick and Konnor Watson scored the game winner as the Mintos used a big third period to defeat the visiting Tisdale Trojans 4-2. Tait was quick to credit his teammates for his success.
“(There were) a lot of great setups and feeds,” Tait said afterwards. “My linemates really helped with that. I can’t take too much credit, but yeah, shots were going in tonight.”
Tait now has five goals in three games since returning to the Mintos. Head coach Tim Leonard said they’re going to rely on the Prince Albert product’s offensive output as the season continues.
“He’s a goal scorer,” Leonard said. “He’s a very skilled kid. I think he probably could have had half a dozen quite easily tonight. We’re going to rely on him to score.
“We’re basically a lunch bucket brigade. We’re going to win those 3-2, 2-1s, those tough games like that, but now, with Taiter in the lineup, it might give us a little more breathing room.”
While Leonard was happy with Wednesday’s win, he wasn’t pleased with the overall effort. The Mintos were outshot in the first two periods, and trailed 2-1 heading into the third.
They outshot Tisdale 18-4 in the final period, piling up three goals in the process, but Leonard said the club needs a more consistent effort going forward.
“In the second period we didn’t show up,” he said. “We weren’t very good. The effort wasn’t there. We had a little chat after the second and came out and played a good 20 minutes and won a hockey game, but in this league, there aren’t too many nights when you’re going to play 20 and win a game. We’ve got to get back to playing 60 minutes.”
Tait opened the scoring roughly 11 minutes into the first period. His initial shot was stopped by Trojans goalie Lane Beal, but Tait picked up his own rebound and scored on a wrap-around to make it 1-0.
Tisdale evened things up a little over a minute into the second. Dayton Reschny beat Mintos netminder Brady Holtvogt on the backhand just seconds after a Prince Albert penalty had expired to tie the game.
Reschny added his second of the night roughly five-and-a-half minutes later. With Tisdale on another powerplay, Reschny walked out from the corner and into the slot where he beat Holtvogt high blocker side to make it 2-1.
The Mintos regrouped in the third, pinning Tisdale in their own end for most of the period, but weren’t rewarded with a goal until the midway point. With 10:52 to play, Tait took a feed from Abinet Klassen and fired a shot off the crossbar and in to tie things at two.
Prince Albert took the lead for good just a minute later when Austin Watson found himself on a two-on-one with Will Whitter. Watson kept the puck and fired a low wristshot that beat Beal blocker side for the game winner.
Tait added some insurance with 4:17 to play in the third. The Minto forward picked up the puck after Logan Pickford forced a turnover in the Tisdale zone, then skated into the slot and beat Beal high glove side for the hat trick.
Holtvogt shut the door the rest of the way for the Mintos, making 27 saves to pick up the win. Beal stopped 32 shots for Tisdale.
While disappointed with the first two period, Leonard said he was pleased with the third.
“We started moving our feet,” he said. “We started moving the puck, and (were) tenacious on the forecheck like we had been playing. It was missing for a while, but in the third period they brought their game.”
“We had a bit of a rough start, but I think just the buy-in from everyone in that locker room was great,” Tait added. “We knew we had a job to do down one (goal) so we went out there and we put it all in for that win. I’m really proud of the guys.”
The win gives Prince Albert a 9-8-1 record, while Tisdale falls to 4-14-3.
The Mintos are back on the Art Hauser ice this weekend for a two-game series with the Moose Jaw AAA Warriors. Puck drop is 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.