The La Ronge Ice Wolves came from behind and beat the Yorkton Terriers 5-4 in Pinehouse Thursday night.
“I thought it was great (the atmosphere), we love coming here, they treat us really well, we got a great meal after,” said Ice Wolves Associate Coach Gaelan Patterson. “The fans were engaged and they like the Ice Wolves hockey.”
The Terriers opened the scoring 49 seconds into the game on the power play when Kaeden Taphorn rifled home his second of the season past Liam McGarva, who recorded his 15th win of the season. Yorkton took a 2-0 lead 13:22 into the game when Chantz Petruic notched his 33rd of the season on a breakaway. The Ice Wolves found the back of the net with 54 seconds remaining in the first when Aaron Greyeyes shovelled in his 10th of the season on the man advantage.
Despite outplaying and outshooting the Terriers in the second period, Yorkton was the only team to score in the second. Kaeden Taphorn netted his second of the evening 13:11 into the middle frame, which gave the Terriers a 3-1 lead heading into the third. Kyle Schneider and Gavin Ingram had a spirited bout early in the second frame, which seemed to ignite the Ice Wolves.
The Ice Wolves cut the lead to one 3:55 into the third on the power play when Daylon Mannon scored from a sharp angle. La Ronge tied the game at three 6:56 into the third when Chad Mcilwain ripped home his first marker in the SJHL, which sent the fans in Pinehouse into a frenzy. Jake Gudjonson continued his strong play when he slipped home his eighth of the season 8:29 into the period, pushing La Ronge ahead 4-3. The Ice Wolves got some insurance 9:26 into the third when Daylon Mannon recorded his second of the night and 20th of the season. Ethan Robson replied late in the third for the Terriers, but the comeback bid came up short.
“We just went into that room (after 40 minutes) and we just said we gotta hit, we gotta play like we played against Melfort a couple days ago,” said La Ronge forward Daylon Mannon. “We just came out buzzing. I think Benny (Manson) gave a good speech in the locker room and it got us going.”
With the win, the Ice Wolves improved to 16-14-3 on the season, which has them holding down sixth place in the SJHL standings. The Wolves improved to 2-3 in Pinehouse over the last five seasons with the victory.
La Ronge will search for its third straight win on Friday at home when they host the Flin Flon Bombers. Friday’s game is slated to get underway at 7:30 p.m. from the Mel Hegland Uniplex.
(PHOTO: The Ice Wolves salute the fans in Pinehouse. Photo by Braden Malsbury.)