The Prince Albert Mintos came out with a split during their first weekend at home against the Notre Dame Hounds.
In Saturday’s game, the Mintos fell 4-2 to the visiting Hounds.
Despite the loss, Minto head coach Doan Smith says there were plenty of positives for the team to build on.
“We’ve come a long way since even last weekend when we split on the road. But these are tough ones because they’re competitive. They’re frustrated. It’s easy to get frustrated and dwell on the total outcome. At the end of the day, we did a lot of good. Special teams, power play, we got to be better. Penalty kill was good again today. It’s just a team effort and sometimes it takes time.”
Prince Albert would strike first with 8:21 to go in the second period as Lincoln Rogers would bury his first goal of the season. Simon Garchinski and Luke Senick provided the helpers.
Evan Skoronski would double the Prince Albert lead with 5:53 to go in the middle frame. Liam Acorn and Staiden Parenteau assisted on the play.
Notre Dame would claw back within one at Chance Regush would bury his first of the season with 2:42 remaining in the second period. Ryan Kowalsky and Koby Bossaer provided the assists.
Less than a minute later, Ryken Arran would tie the game with his first goal of the season. Reed Belcourt assisted on the play.
Notre Dame would take their first lead of the night less then a minute into the third period as Jakob Boekelder would score his second goal of the season, unassisted.
Prince Albert would push for an equalizer, but the Hounds would ice the game thanks to an empty netter from Noah Aldred.
Steven Wawryk was outstanding between the pipes for Notre Dame, making 54 saves on 56 Minto shots in the contest to earn the win in goal. Wawryk would make 22 stops in the third period alone.
Smith says the third period was a learning lesson for the team when facing a goaltender who is locked in.
“It’s tough, especially when you’re a 15, 16, 17 year old kid, you get in your head easily and it’s easy to start to doubt, but the best players in the world go through scoring slumps. So again, our message is learn from it, shot selection, traffic in front of the net. There’s things that we can do better, but it’s tough when the outcome is not there and when you do a lot of positives. It’s a building piece that we got to just keep moving in the right direction.”
Late Howe goal lifts Mintos to Sunday win
In the Sunday contest, the Mintos were able to outlast Notre Dame and take home two points with a 7-6 win.
Smith says he was proud of how the Mintos didn’t fold after a rocky start early in the contest.
“The guys showed resiliency. That one would have been easy to give up on early. I think it’s a coach’s nightmare kind of game when it’s back and forth. We’re doing lots right. Now we just got to string stuff together. Fight back down three or four times where we had to claw back into the game, and they got it done at the end of the day. It’s a proud moment for us.”
The game would be tied at 3-3 after the opening twenty minutes. Notre Dame got goals from Brodyn Pladson, Carter Hudyma and Ryken Arran. Evan Skoronski, Kanyan Unger and Landin Frank scored for the Mintos.
The Hounds would hold a 6-5 lead going into the final frame but the Mintos would rally back. Luke Senick would tie the game with a power play goal with 12:10 left in regulation. Kanyan Unger.
Connor Howe would give Prince Albert the lead with 2:32 left to go. Unger would provide the assist on the 2-on-1.
Goaltending duties would split for the Mintos as Jayden Blanchette allowed 6 goals on 16 shots before being relieved by Josh Henry who stopped all five shots that he faced.
Smith says the Mintos are confident in both of their netminders, even with a change being made.
“A tough one for Jayden ultimately, but we think highly of Jayden as well. Josh had a tough one last night and we needed him to respond. We think he’s the best goalie in the league. for him to come in and shut the door in the third, give us a chance was a huge confidence boost for him.”
The Mintos return to action on Tuesday night when they travel to the SaskTel Centre for a matchup with the Saskatoon Blazers. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
