Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
The beat goes on for the Prince Albert Mintos, albeit it isn’t to the rhythm to which they had hoped for or need at this point of the Saskatchewan Male U18AAA Hockey League season.
“It was not the game we wanted to watch tonight,” acknowledged Mintos’ assistant coach Jeff Willoughby moments after the Battlefords Stars skated away with a convincing 5-2 decision on Tuesday at the Art Hauser Centre. “Battlefords came ready to play and the start is an important part of the game.”
It was evident from the opening face-off that the ice was going to be tilted in the Stars’ favor as the Battlefords swarmed the Prince Albert zone and after seven minutes of domination finally solved Minto netminder Wyatt Nelson when Jaxon Brabant found the five-hole for a 1-0 advantage.
Shots on goal at that point were 8-0 in favor of the Stars and if it wasn’t for the standout play of Nelson, who would finish the game with 52 saves, the deficit could have been much worse.
Whatever was said in the intermission obviously didn’t sink in for the Mintos as Nash Coquet banged home a nice feed from Chance Regush just 13 seconds into the middle frame and Regush would get one of his own four minutes later to extend the lead to 3-0.
There was a moment of hope for the Mintos when Carter Wingert deflected a weak shot from the point just 50 seconds later, but Battlefords’ captain Lukamus Lehman basically closed the door when he was left all alone in front of Nelson and fired a shot past the beleaguered netminder with just over five minutes to play in the second period. The goal was Lehman’s fourth point of the night as he had assisted on the Stars first three markers.
The third period had Prince Albert play with a bit more inspiration, but Noah Larre, with a shorthanded empty-net goal for the Stars, and Maxim Cooper for the Mintos exchanged goals in the final three minutes to complete the scoring.
“From the games against Swift Current on the weekend we were happy with our effort, but the guys have to realize they can’t skip any day,” said Willoughby. “We shouldn’t change our approach for any opponent.”
The loss, which was Prince Albert’s eighth in a row, allowed the Stars to move one point ahead of the Mintos into seventh place in the league standings.
“It is getting to be more desperate at this time of the year,” confirmed Willoughby in assessing the Mintos’ predicament, which sees them in a four-way battle with the Stars, Tisdale Trojans and Saskatoon Contacts for the final two playoff spots. Just three points separate the four teams with both the Stars and Contacts having three games in hand.
The Mintos and Stars will lock horns again on Jan. 14 in the Battlefords before Prince Albert returns home for a game against the Estevan Bears on Jan. 23 at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop for that tilt is 7 p.m.
