The Prince Albert Mintos clawed their way back from a two goal deficit but couldn’t complete the comeback in overtime.
The Mintos fell 3-2 to the Saskatoon Contacts at Merlis Belsher Place on Thursday. Mintos head coach Dion Antisin credited his team for playing well after going down 2-0, but said they can’t give their opponents a head start and still be successful.
“We just didn’t play well at the start of the game,” Antisin said. “The first half we just weren’t skating well, weren’t making the passes, weren’t playing our style of hockey that we need to play to be successful. About halfway through the game we had a little talk on the bench and they responded well and started playing that style that really made them successful.”
The Contacts outshot the Mintos 15-5 in the first period, and jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Austin Schafer’s fifth of the season with assists to Denys Lupandin and Beckett Friesen.
Saskatoon made it 2-0 just past the midway point of the second period when Kohen Volk scored, with assists to Schafer and Joel Marceniuk.
However, the Mintos responded with a goal from Cruz Stacey to make it 2-1 less than a minute later. Then in the third, they outshot the Contacts 10-5, and tied the game at two thanks to a goal from defenceman Barret Berger with 7:58 to play.
“We talked in the second period about what we need to be doing better and they really went out and played well in that second half,” Antisin said. “For us to push that game to overtime after such a tough start was a good positive to take from it, be we have to learn we have to play 60 minutes in order to be successful in this league. Most teams don’t let you have the first 30 off and then battle your way back. We’ve got to learn from that.”
The Contacts scored on their second shot in overtime. Davey Fisher got the goal, with assists to Kohen Volk and Charlie Kay with 4:20 to play in the extra frame.
“It’s tough,” Antisin said. “We tried handling the puck and tried making a play that might have been the wrong decision at the time. We had time to take it back and make a different play, but we tried to force a pass that lead to a two-on-one.
“We had two forwards attacking the net, they picked off the pass and had that rush, and (Fisher) made a good shot.”
News and Notes:
• Thursday’s loss was the first time they Mintos were beaten in overtime. They previously recorded wins over the Tisdale Trojans (5-4) and Yorkton Maulers (6-5).
• Linden Abercrombie had two assists on the night for the Mintos. Noah Gibson and Liam Myhre also had helpers.
• Wyatt Nelson made 32 saves in the Prince Albert goal. Felix Derksen made 28 stops for Saskatoon.
• Thursday’s game featured a wild melee with 4:21 to play in the second period. Seven players from the two teams received a combined 60 minutes in penalties.
• The Mintos are back on the ice Saturday in Warman for a game against the Wildcats. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
