Weyburn Red Wings' winless streak continues

When the Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings took the ice against the Notre Dame Hounds Wednesday night, the game would end with one of the two teams ending a winless streak. The Red Wings were looking for their first win since October 3rd, when, fittingly enough, they beat the Hounds 5-1. Meanwhile, Notre Dame was looking for their first win of the season, starting the campaign with nine straight losses.

It would be the Hounds who would end the streak, though, as they came out firing. Building up a 3-1 lead in the first period, they would hold on for a 4-2 victory, their first of the year. 

The Hounds took the lead with their three goals coming in just over a span of 10 minutes, starting with Cooper Fredericks beating Weyburn's starting goalie, Eric Kahl, at the 5:31 mark. 

Weyburn would find a way to beat Hounds netminder Johann Tremblay-Kau with 9:54 to play in the period. Tyler Teasdale scored his second goal of the season, with Jerome Maharaj picking up the assist. 

Notre Dame regained the lead with 5:48 to play when Cole Wirun scored his first goal of the season. Then, with 3:22 to go Alexander Hollands made it 3-1 for the visitors, ending the night for Kahl after he allowed the three goals on eight shots. 

In the second period, Weyburn would cut the lead to just one when captain Max Monette scored his third of the campaign on the power play. Elijah Anderson picked up his team-leading seventh assist with a helper on the tally, with Teasdale getting the other assist. 

The two-goal lead would be restored by the Hounds with 2:34 remaining in the middle frame, though, when Notre Dame's captain, Carson Baylis, got the puck past Dazza Mitchell to make it a 4-2 score. 

In the third period, the Red Wings threw nearly everything they could at Tremblay-Kau

but could not get anything past him despite a number of scrambles in the crease. This included a few opportunities while they had the goalie pulled in favour of the extra attacker in the final moments of the game.

Dazza Mitchell turned aside 25 of the 26 shots he faced after coming in late in the first period, including this third period chance from Kyle Kalamaras. (Photo by Kristin Grassing)

The tensions in the game did boil over at the end of the third period when a scrum broke out near the Notre Dame goal. The Hounds, though, appeared to get the worst of it on the scoresheet with defenseman Connor O'Keefe being assessed a gross misconduct while he was entangled with Weyburn's Elijah Anderson. The penalty carries an automatic two-game suspension, but depending on the nature of the penalty, it could be longer. 

Tensions started to boil over at the end of the game. (Photo by Kristin Grassing)

Despite the loss, the Red Wings still hold on to first in the Viterra Division by a single point ahead of the Melville Millionaires. Now winless in five, Weyburn will be looking to bounce back when they return to the ice Friday night when they host the Nipawin Hawks at Crescent Point Place.