The Prince Albert Mintos started their season with a split against the Yorkton Maulers last weekend.
The Mintos were defeated 6-2 on Saturday afternoon, before rebounding to a 5-4 overtime win on Sunday. Head coach Doan Smith says he was proud of the effort showed by the Mintos.
“Our guys competed, getting a split on the road is always good, you want more, but you’re content with getting the first one out of the way early. Proud of the guys for getting that done, especially after two one o’clock games in Yorkton aren’t easy for everybody. Lose the first one, kind of get humbled a little bit after a good exhibition season, and then on to game two where we have to claw back and win in overtime. It shows a gutsy effort from the guys.”
In Saturday’s game, Yorkton jumped to an early 4-0 lead after the first period thanks to a pair of goals from Ryder Woods and single tallies from Tanner Wiens and Aidan Vallance.
Layne McKechnie extended the lead to 5-0 with 1:18 left in the second period.
The Mintos would crawl back into the game in the third period with goals from Connor Howe and Brock Kolibab, but the game was already out of reach by that point.
In Sunday’s contest, the Mintos would be trailing by two after forty minutes of play but Carter Bergen would strike for a pair of goals in the final frame to force overtime.
Bergen would complete the hat trick at the 3:08 mark of the extra frame to seal the win for Prince Albert.
Kanyan Unger and Carter Stolte had the other markers for the Mintos.
Smith says he was glad to see the Mintos come away with a split.
“I thought we competed well on day one. I think we had a little bit of nervous energy. We started with nine forwards. We had some guys out. We had a full lineup day two which helps to get some of those veteran guys back in the lineup for sure. No excuses, I thought we just prepared better. Day one was tough. Some guys first game, some guys just getting back into the league. Game two, we settled in. We struggled at times no doubt but it showed urgency for sure.”
“Anytime you can split down in the South, it’s good. Obviously we’re pushing to win every weekend and pick up points every weekend, and we picked up points. So proud of the group, but tons of work to do heading into the home opener here this weekend.”
The Mintos return to action on Saturday night when they welcome the Notre Dame Hounds to open their home schedule. See Saturday’s edition of the Daily Herald for a full preview. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
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