Ice Wolves come up short in Melville 

The La Ronge Ice Wolves dropped their second straight game Saturday night when they came up short 4-3 in Melville. 

La Ronge’s Mason Bueckert opened the scoring 5:51 into the first frame when he jammed in his 7th of the campaign past Clement Labillois, who stopped 34 shots for the victory. 

Jaxon Martens tied the game at one at the 9:53 mark of the opening stanza on the power play. The Ice Wolves answered the call 16:51 into the period when Jacob Cossette knifed home his 7th of the season, giving La Ronge a 2-1 lead heading into the second. 

Melville tied things at two 10:52 into the second after Sam Schofield was credited with his third of the season. 

The Millionaires took their first lead of the night 11:28 into the third stanza when Matt Kjemhus walked into the La Ronge zone and beat Topher Chirico, who turned away 35 shots in the loss. Sam Schofield tallied his second of the contest 15:49 into the third, giving Melville a 4-2 edge – and some insurance. 

Walker Jerome batted in his 18th of the season with just 1:32 remaining in the third, but it was too little, too late for the Ice Wolves as the Millionaires skated away with two points.

With the loss, the Ice Wolves slipped to 27-15-5 on the season. Despite the setback, La Ronge is still occupying second in the SJHL standings at the moment. 

The Ice Wolves will try to respond Monday night in Wilcox when they meet the Notre Dame Hounds for the final time this season.