The La Ronge Ice Wolves got back in the win column when they pasted the Mustangs 6-1 in Melfort Friday.
“Tonight, we came out hungry, coming in on the road,” said Ice Wolves Asst. Coach Kyle Schneider. “I think that’s a full 60-minute effort of Ice Wolves hockey right there.”
The Ice Wolves opened the scoring 3:54 into the first when Rylan Silzer sent a seeing-eye shot past Joel Favreau from the point on the power play.
Melfort tied the game at one 1:13 into the second on the man advantage after Hayden Tuba tallied. La Ronge took a 2-1 lead at the 3:25 mark of the second when Jacob Cossette wired the biscuit upstairs on Favreau.
The Ice Wolves made it a 3-1 game 6:27 into the second when Kale Taylor tipped in his eighth of the campaign. La Ronge went up 4-1 after Parker Layton buried his fifth of the season with just five seconds remaining in the middle frame.
Ethan Strik found the back of the net twice in the third period on the power play as the Ice Wolves silenced the Melfort faithful at Northern Lights Palace. Strik is now riding a five-game goal streak – the Richmond, B.C. product has eight goals over that span.
“I think we just did all of the little things right – shots were going in and their shots weren’t,” said La Ronge defenceman Parker Layton. “Guys blocked a lot of shots tonight and Smitty made the saves when he needed to.”
Dawson Smith was brilliant in the La Ronge net, turning away 33 shots for his 18th win of the season.
With the victory, the Ice Wolves improved to 31-18-5 on the season, which moved them back into fourth in the SJHL standings.
La Ronge will look for its second straight win next Friday night at the Mel Hegland Uniplex when they open a home-and-home series with the Flin Flon Bombers.
