Klippers Drop 2nd Straight At Home

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It was a much better effort from the Kindersley Klippers then we seen on Saturday night, but in the end the Klippers couldn't capitalize on their scoring chances.

Out the gate it was a slow start for both teams but near the end of the first period things started to open up and teams exchanged some high quality scoring opportunities to end the frame. Both goaltenders, Johnson for Kindersley and Wilkins for Melfort had shutouts through twenty as the period ended scoreless.

In the second period Kindersley would get on the board first when D Jay McGrath potted a rebound on a Letourneau point shot. Overall I thought D Jay McGrath was the best Klipper fwd on the night. He could of had 3 or 4 goals and likely should of had a penalty shot in the first period. D Jay has been skating really well and showing no ill effects from his knee surgery.

Melfort would shortly get the equalizer on the powerplay via a Carter Berg point blast that beat Johnson clean through a ton of traffic. No chance for Johnson on that one, it was a bomb from the big Melfort defenseman.

Shortly after that Melfort would take the lead on a rebound that Brendan Tash cashed on at the 9:09 mark of the second frame. That ended up being the game winner for the Mustangs.
The Klippers had alot of good scoring chances throughout the second half of the game but Wilkins shut the door for Melfort. I was somewhat surprised that the Klippers were getting the chances they were as they really were struggling making crisp passes. Pucks were bouncing everywhere, players were falling down trying to retrieve passes that weren't within stick length and overall it was sloppy execution for the Klippers offensively.

That sloppiness really carried over into the Klippers powerplay. It was not a pretty sight as Kindersley went 0/6 on the man advantage. If you want to win a hockey game you have to be better than 0/6 on the powerplay. I know pucks were bouncing but someone needs to bare down and make a big play for the team. Rockie Zinger was really shuffling his powerplay units and rightfully so as they couldn't really get anything going. The powerplay is a work in progress at the moment and I am sure it will start clicking shortly. They showed it on Friday night with crisp passing and quick shots that resulted in two powerplay markers.

Despite the outcome I still thought Kindersley was the better team on the night but they will need to start figuring it out shortly offensively.

In net Patrick Johnson made his season debut and he was very solid. He really didn't get caught out of position at all on the night and he did what a goalie needs to do, give his team a chance to win. Both McDonald and Johnson have been playing very well for Kindersley and it appears goaltending will be one of the clubs strengths this season. In terms of Abdallah he hasn't got a look yet in the pipes but it sounds like he will get his chance to impress on Tuesday night.

Justin Lund drew into his first game as a Klipper and I thought the young rookie played well. He was competing hard, going into the tough areas and trying to get under the skin of the opposition. He battled an injury throughout the preseason but he told me after the game everything felt fine. More on him in the post game interview below.

Zane Morin had a bit of a scare on the ice after he went after Norton for nudging his goaltender. Morin started throwing bombs at Norton in the corner. Norton was somewhat caught off guard and couldn't really get anything going against Morin. As they went down Morin ended up smacking his head on the ice and was cut up pretty bad. The good news was though Zane is ok and he did return to game shortly after he got a new clean white jersey with no blood on it. Morin is a great team player and will really do anything for his teammates on any night.

Overall it wasn't the best game by the Klippers but these two loses in my mind are nothing to get alarmed over. I do however think they need to take advantage of these next two contests at home before heading out on the road for two tough games at the Whitney Forum in Flin Flon. Next up for Kindersley is La Ronge on Friday night.

3 Stars

1. Jesse Wilkins - 27 saves - 1 GA
2. Mitch Berg
3. D Jay McGrath



Post Game Vs Melfort by Ullsy