The La Ronge Ice Wolves dropped their third straight game on Friday night 5-3 to the visiting Yorkton Terriers.
“I think we got away from what we wanted to do, right from the start. We didn’t establish ourselves at all,” said Ice Wolves Head Coach and GM Evan Vossen. “We fell into the way they (Yorkton) play, getting all over the ice and kind of run-and-gun, and that’s not what’s going to make us successful.”
The Terriers opened the scoring with just under two minutes left in the first when Aiden Bulych sent an offering from the right circle past Daniel Davidson.
After La Ronge’s Zach Bannister tied the game at one in the second, the Terriers got goals from Branden Klatt and Cole Keenleyside to go up 3-1. Mitch Zambon and Zach Bannister would score late goals in the second, which tied the game at three heading into the third stanza.
“Obviously, you’re pleased with that (the response), but at the end of the day, too, you have to get down two goals before you actually respond and start playing hockey,” said Ice Wolves Head Coach and GM Evan Vossen. “That’s something that we’ve continuously done is kind of shot ourselves in the foot and then decided to play once we get down.”
Cole Keenleyside would notch the game-winner 16:10 into the third when he scored on a partial breakaway. Chantz Petruic added an empty-netter late, as the Terriers skated away with two points.
Daniel Davidson made 30 saves in the loss, while Ryan Ouellette turned away 27 shots for the victory in the Yorkton net.
With the loss, the Ice Wolves slipped to 6-14 on the season, which now has them in 11th in the overall standings. La Ronge is now two points back of Weyburn for the last playoff spot.
The Ice Wolves look to rebound on Saturday afternoon when they conclude a weekend series with the Terriers at the Mel Hegland Uniplex. Saturday’s contest gets underway at 2 p.m.
(PHOTO: The Yorkton Terriers made their first trip to the Mel Friday. Photo by Braden Malsbury.)