Jason Kerr
Daily Herald
It wasn’t pretty, but the Prince Albert Mintos did everything they needed to do to leave the Art Hauser Centre with two points on Tuesday.
Cooper Sawatzky’s third period goal broke a 1-1 tie, and Jaden Blanchette made 32 saves as the Mintos knocked off the Saskatoon Contacts in their home opener.
“I’m trying to keep all my hair in my head,” Mintos coach Dion Antisin said with a laugh when asked what his message was to the team after the game. “It’s too crazy. The last two games were one goal games, but that’s probably how our team’s going to be this year.
“We’re young, we’re going to make mistakes, but we’re going to play hard and battle through. We just kept telling them, trust each other, trust the system, and you guys will have success.”
After being outshot for both of the first two periods, the Mintos piled on the pressure in the third. They outshot the Contacts 21-10 in the final frame, and were rewarded for their efforts.
“I thought we kept it simple in the third—just getting pucks deep and started grinding,” Mintos defenceman Liam Myhre said. “I think that’s ultimately what got us the win.”
“I think we showed a lot of heart and did the little things right,” Antisin added. “(We) really pressured their team to make plays and I think they coughed up the puck, which helped us in the long run. We were able to, late in the game, create offence off turnovers and once we started to figured out the discipline it was a little easier for us.”
Noah Gibson had the other goal for the Mintos, who improve to 2-1-0-0 on the year. Davey Fisher had the lone goal for the Contacts, while Felix Derksen made 31 saves in the Saskatoon goal.
The Mintos are back on the ice Sunday when they travel to Saskatoon to take on the Blazers. Puck drop is 4:45 p.m. at Rod Hamm Arena.
Prince Albert’s next home game is Saturday, Oct. 11 when they host the Yorkton Maulers at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca
