YORKTON - If you went to the home opener of the Yorkton Terriers expecting an offensive outburst – you went home disappointed.
But, if you were hoping for a defensive gem, it was a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League game you will not soon forget.
The Terriers, hosting Weyburn, played through a scoreless first.
Then the second period came and went without a goal being scored.
Shooters couldn’t solve Dazza Mitchell in the Wings net, or Caleb Allen in the Terrier nets either.
The teams headed to overtime at the Westland Insurance Arena to finally determine a winner, on a goal by Blake Betson 3:44 into the extra frame.
In earning the shut-out Mitchell stopped 20-shots.
Allen faced 35-shots in the loss for Yorkton.
Terrier head coach Emery Olauson said he might have expected low scoring given the preseason results, but a dual shut-out through 60-minutes was certainly unexpected.
“I would have predicted we may have seen low scoring games,” he said, but the netminding was particularly stingy.
Season opener
The season opener for both teams in Weyburn Friday was an old-fashioned nail biter, as well, albeit with a few goals.
The visiting Terriers scored first when Jaron Desnoyers found the twine 8:09 into the contest.
The Yorkton lead was short-lived as Elijah Anderson responded for the Wings knotting the score 1-1 at 9:19.
The Terriers would however carry a lead to the dressing room after 20-minutes of play on a goal by Anthony Domina at 14:02.
Weyburn again tied things up as Jerome Maharaj scored the only goal of the middle stanza at 10:41.
The third period was scoreless settling nothing in the tied contest.
The five-minute, four-on-four overtime did not lead to a winning-goal either.
Finally, in the shoot-out the Terriers prevailed for a 3-2 win.
Allen was the winning netminder facing 40 shots in the Terrier net.
Mitchell was tagged with the loss facing 36-shots in the Weyburn cage.
The win in game one of the season was the first of Olauson’s career as an SJHL head coach.
“It did feel good,” he said, but added “it didn’t look good all the time.
“We started really well. We looked like the team we wanted to be.”
But, in the second period discipline became an issue.
“We haven’t put that one (avoiding the penalty box), down just yet,” said Olauson, terming it “an ugly second period.”
But, Allen made some big saves giving the Terriers the edge to eventually get the win.
The inconsistency means “there are plenty of things to work on,” said Olauson.
The pair of games was a mix of good and bad in terms of the Terriers, said Olauson.
The penalty kill allowed only one goal on 10 chances, which was a positive.
By contrast the powerplay was anemic without a goal in 10 chances.
In the end it was about as good in terms of points as either team might have expected, each earning three of a possible four in the home-and-home set.
Up next
The Terriers host Battlefords for back-to-back games Thursday and Friday.
