Weyburn, SK – The La Ronge Ice Wolves picked up a strong 5–2 victory over the Weyburn Red Wings at the Whitecap Resources Centre Saturday night. Despite being outshot 43–33, La Ronge led wire-to-wire and leaned on strong goaltending, timely scoring, and a resilient penalty kill to secure the road victory.
La Ronge came out ready. At 8:45, Connor Hoemsen opened the scoring, burying his sixth of the season off a slick passing play from Nikita Kulikov and Easton Kozak to put the Wolves up 1–0.
Just two minutes later, Everett Merchant made it 2–0 with a determined drive and finish, set up by William Knox.
Late in the period, La Ronge faced heavy pressure after a five-minute major and game misconduct to Knox, but the Wolves’ penalty kill came up huge, keeping Weyburn off the board.
Weyburn’s lone second-period goal came from Renat Nahnieiev 5:22 into the second period to make it 2-1.
The Ice Wolves regained the two goal lead midway through the second, when Grayden Perozni ripped home his third goal of the year at 10:50, finishing a passing play from Maxim Radmanovich and Owen Turner to make it 3–1.
La Ronge successfully killed off more penalties late in the frame, taking a 3–1 lead into the final period.
Early in the third, the Wolves extended the lead again. At 5:50, Evan Cook buried his sixth of the season to make it 4–1, giving La Ronge some breathing room.
At 14:30, with the Red Wings’ net empty, Grayden Perozni fired home his second of the night — fourth of the season — to seal the game. Zane Normand picked up the assist.
Ice Wolves Goaltender Graham Brown was outstanding, stopping 41 of 43 shots, including several key saves on Weyburn’s six power-play opportunities. Weyburn’s Nate Stevens finished with 28 saves in the loss.
power play opportunities:
- La Ronge: 0/3
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Weyburn: 0/6
Photo credit: Lyons Photography
