The Prince Albert Mintos finished their regular season on a high note with a 4-3 shootout win over the Swift Current Legionnaires at the Art Hauser Centre on Sunday afternoon.
The win helped the Mintos earn a weekend split with the Legionnaires, who scored three times in the third period to win 4-2 on Saturday night.
Minto head coach Doan Smith says it was great for Prince Albert to end their regular season slate.
“I thought we had a chance to win last night and we got scored on late as well. But ultimately, it just shows that there’s belief and there’s hope within the group. We can beat anybody. We can compete with anybody. The two points, it’s huge for us from a standings standpoint as well.”
The Mintos currently sit in seventh place in the Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League standings with a 22-20-2 record, good enough for 46 points.
Smith says it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Mintos, but he is glad to see the team having some momentum going into the playoffs.
“44 games is a long year and we’ve had ups and downs and all the above, but to win two out of the last three here to go into playoffs, it’s a good feeling. We got depth and we utilized that today and it’s a good step in the right direction.”
“You look at the big picture and we were really good at the beginning. We struggled out into Christmas break and we started hot and we struggled a little bit in February, but ultimately we know what we are. We know what we can be. We can beat anybody and no matter who we play, Regina or Moose Jaw, we beat both throughout the regular season. We’re looking forward to utilizing that depth in the next stage.”
In Sunday’s game, the Mintos would get off to a 2-0 lead after the first period thanks to goals from Evan Skoronski and Simon Garchinski.
A short handed goal would get the Legionnaires on the board with 11:58 to go in the middle frame as Connor Rieger wired home his 13th goal of the season, coming unassisted.
Prince Albert would restore the two goal advantage with 5:39 to go in the second period as Kelan Simmonds would wire home his 16th goal of the season. Liam Acorn had the lone helper.
Swift Current would tie the game in the third period thanks to a pair of goals. Mason Fauser would strike on a 5-on-3 power play with 10:38 to go while Porter Nickason would strike with 4:26 left in regulation.
Overtime would solve nothing and the two teams would head to a shootout. Carter Bergen and Kelan Simmonds would score for the Mintos while Kasey Gleim had the only shootout goal for the Legionnaires.
Swift Current finished the afternoon 1 for 7 on the man advantage while the Mintos failed to convert on 8 power play opportunities.
Smith says the Mintos will need to improve upon the power play heading into the playoffs.
“Our penalty kill has been really good. They scored on the 5-on-3, but penalty kill has been good for the last week or two. Power play is a struggle, a real struggle in the back half of the year and only because we have so many guys that can put the puck in the net. that it’s, I know we’re frustrated. It needs to be an improvement point over the week. But again, when your penalty kill is as good as it is, it allows your power play to struggle a little bit.”
Playoff dates for the Mintos have not been announced at the time of publishing.
