The Melfort Mustangs and Nipawin Hawks renewed their rivalry in Nipawin on Saturday, Feb. 3 and the Mustangs skated away with a 5-0 shutout win.
James Venne stopped all 29 shots he faced for Melfort to record the shutout in his 100th SJHL game.
Melfort led 2-0 after the first period and 4-0 after the second period.
Ryan Duguay, Logan Belton, Chase Friedt-Mohr, Nolan Roberts and Aidyn Hutchinson scored the Mustangs’ goals.
Damon Cunningham made 29 saves for the Hawks.
In the Sherwood the Flin Flon Bombers became the first team to clinch a playoff spot in the SJHL last weekend, as of Feb. 5 they have a record of 35-2-2-0 with 72 points.
As of Feb. 5 the Mustangs are in second place in the Sherwood with a record of 28-11-3-0 with 59 points, the Hawks are in third place with a record of 16-22-0-4 with 36 points and the Ice Wolves are in fourth place with a record of 14-25-2-2 with 32 points.
The Mustangs were in Weyburn to play the Red Wings on Tuesday, Feb. 6, results were not available.
The Hawks opened their weekend with an 8-0 loss to the Bombers in Flin Flon on Friday, Feb. 2 for Hockey Night in the North.
Kenneth Marquart stopped all 29 shots he faced to record the shutout.
The Bombers led 4-0 after the first and second periods.
Matt Egan scored a pair of goals for the Bombers in his first game back after a cancer diagnosis took him out of the lineup, Carter Anderson and Riley Niven each also scored a pair of goals for Flin Flon and Anthony Piccininno added the other goal.
Cunningham made 26 saves in just over 48 minutes of action for the Hawks before he was replaced by Jaidyn Shaw who made four saves for Nipawin.
La Ronge was swept in their two game set with the Battlefords North Stars when the North Stars beta the Ice Wolves 7-4 in North Battleford on Saturday, Feb. 3.
The North Stars led 3-2 after the first period and 6-4 after the second period.
Dylan Handel, William Forsberg, Seth Dragan and Parker Layton scored for La Ronge.
Alex Izyk and Kian Bell each had a pair of goals for the North Stars; Bradley Blake, Jackson Allan and Riley Girod added the other Battlefords goals.
Eric Kahl made 18 saves in just over 30 minutes before being replaced by Topher Chirico who stopped seven shots for La Ronge. Logan Cunningham made 19 saves for the Battlefords.
The Ice Wolves opened their two game set with the North Stars with a 5-4 shootout loss in North Battleford on Friday, Feb. 2.
Bradley Blake and Kian Bell both scored for North Battleford in the two-round shootout.
The Ice Wolves led 2-0 after the first period and the North Stars led 3-2 after the second period.
Mason Bueckert, Cole Thomas, Dylan Handel and Max Henderson scored for La Ronge in regulation time.
Blake, Jackson Allan, Colton Getzlaff and Josh Medernach responded for the North Stars in regulation time.
Chirico made 43 saves for the Ice Wolves; Matthew MacArthur made 36 saves for the North Stars.
The Melville Millionaires and Ice Wolves have a two game set in La Ronge on Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 10.
The Mustangs and Humboldt Broncos meet in a home-and-home this weekend with the teams meeting in Melfort on Friday, Feb. 9 and in Humboldt on Saturday, Feb. 10.
The Hawks are in Kinderslety to play the Klippers on Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 10.
