The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season began for the Yorkton Terriers on Sept. 14.
Unfortunately, the Terriers’ first game of the season was a 6-4 loss in Weyburn.
Greg Mulhall opened the season scoring for the Terriers 10:39 into the contest.
Jordan Kazymyra would knot the score for the Wings at 16:20, only to see Yorkton reclaim a lead 46-seconds later on a goal by Colby Brandt.
A powerplay goal by Branden Klatt 2:54 into the second period extended the Terrier lead to 3-1.
However, with only 1:11 left in the middle frame Ben Hiltz cut the Yorkton lead in half drawing the home team back within one at 3-2.
Kazymyra would tie the game at 3-3 with a powerplay goal midway through the third period.
It would be a man-advantage marker by Cody Bruchkowski at the 13-minute mark that would again see the Terriers inch ahead 4-3.
But it was all Wings the rest of the way.
Cade Kowalski would tie the contest 4-4 only 32-sconds after the Terriers’ go-ahead marker.
At 17:44 Hiltz would pop his second of the night for a Wing lead. And then at 18:33 Kazymyra would salt away the 6-4 win as he completed an opening night hat trick effort.
Ben Laidlaw took the loss in the Terrier net facing 31 shots, while Riley Lamb faced 48 in the win for Weyburn.
Terrier head coach Mat Hehr said the Terriers just couldn’t close the deal on a win Friday.
“We had a great start … We skated so well. We used our speed really well,” he said, adding they just couldn’t get the goal to make the hill to climb too great for a Weyburn comeback. “We didn’t finish on all the chances.
“We’re pretty disappointed we let them back in the game.”
Still, Hehr said the team played well for much of the game and the late game comeback by the Wings is a learning moment for the young Terriers. He said the team has to play a full 60-minutes.
“It’s a good lesson to learn early on,” he said. “… We all have to learn from this and move forward.”
Up next
The Terriers home opener is Sept. 21 at the Farrell Agencies Arena when they host Weyburn.
