MOOSOMIN — When the Moosomin Rangers and Redvers Rockets first met earlier this season, it was a close match. The Rangers skated out of Redvers on that fateful November evening with a 5-4 win, and the Rockets were looking forward to returning the favour ever since, handing the Rangers a loss in their own barn to even things out.
Well, the stars aligned for just that scenario on Jan. 10 with the Rockets making a trip north to Moosomin. First-period action ended in a tie courtesy of singles from Redvers’ Kenton Miller and Moosomin’s Phil Fath, but the Rockets would launch into a scoring stretch through the middle frame that would result in a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes (goals from Naton Miller, Brady Gaudet, and Braeden Magotiaux).
Third-period action would see Naton Miller contribute one more point on the power play for a 5-1 lead. The Rangers tried to stage a comeback with Justin Lamontagne monopolizing on the extra-man advantage, but that’s all the home team could muster, with Redvers leaving the Mike Schwean Arena 5-2 victors.
The two teams are not scheduled to face each other again in regular season play, but as the pair have dominated the top two spots all year, chances are they will meet again in playoffs.
In Kipling on the same night, the KW Oil Kings squeaked out an overtime win over the host Wawota Flyers.
The Flyers racked up an early 3-0 lead thanks to Drayton Shiner, Aydan Lawless, and Brady Dinwoodie, but partway through the second frame, the Oil Kings found their stride—matching the pace with lamplighters of their courtesy a double from Carson Harcourt and a penalty shot from Austin Fleck.
No scoring in the final frame brought this contest into overtime, where Harcourt would complete his hat-trick for the night and bring the host KW Oil Kings a 4-3 win.
For the rest of the weekend, the Oxbow Huskies would rain on both the Flyers’ and Oil Kings’ parades, taking a 5-2 win in Wawota on Jan. 11 and a 3-1 win in Kipling on Jan. 12.
A Monday night rendezvous on Jan. 13 saw Redvers host the Midale Mustangs, shutting the Mustangs out 10-0, including a hat trick from Kenton Miller; deuces courtesy Magotiaux and Preston Kopeck; then seasoned with singles from Drew Hoff, and Naton Miller.
Mid-week action saw the KW Oil Kings play host to the Cougars on Jan. 15, which began as a tight race seeing both teams tied 3-3 after 40 minutes. Then, the Cougars pounced with a six-goal blitz throughout the third period, leaving Kipling with a tripled-up 9-3 win.
Looking around the league as the regular season starts to wind down, Redvers continued to lead the Big 6 last week with 26 points and a 12-0-2 record. Moosomin followed in second with 21 points and a 10-2-1 record, then it was the 9-4 Huskies and 9-5 Red Devils tied for third spot with 18 points. That game last Wednesday night widened the gap between the 8-5-1 Cougars with 17 points and the 4-10-1 Oil Kings, who hold on to nine points.
The 3-9-2 Mustangs and 0-12-1 Flyers rounded out the list with eight and one point respectively.
