The Southwest Cougars definitely came to play when they dropped by the C.A. Nesbitt Arena Feb. 2−3, since they beat the Norman Northstars handily by a final score of 10−1 and 7−0, respectively.
The Cougars didn’t waste any time establishing their dominance on Saturday night, since forward Callum Fortin scored less than 30 seconds into the opening period.
Over the next forty minutes of play the Cougars put away another six unanswered goals, with the Northstars barely being able to register any offence in response.
There was a glimmer of hope for the Northstars in the third period when Morgan Daneliuk scored his first goal of the season and narrowed the Cougars’ lead to 7−1.
However, the Cougars responded with three additional goals of their own, which sealed their double-digit victory.
Even though offensive powerhouse Jamie Valentino was back in their line-up for Sunday’s rematch, the Northstars still got completely shut-out.
No matter what the Northstars’ offence did during that game, they couldn’t beat Cougars goalie Ryan Cooke once, who ended the match-up with 24 saves to his name.
Meanwhile, the Cougars tallied a total of seven goals thanks to Hunter Wallace, Cody Gudnason, Braeden Lewis, Austin Clyne, Hunter Andrew and Fortin.
With this latest pair of wins, the Cougars ascended to fourth-place in the Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League, whereas the Northstars are still stuck in last with a 6−33 win-lose record (plus one overtime loss).
As always, Northstars coach Murray Nychyporuk had nothing but nice things to say about his team’s goaltending, since Braedin Melsted and Ryan Potkonjak faced a grand total of 62 and 40 shots during their respective games on Saturday and Sunday.
“Our team is still trying to learn how to play in their own end, we’ve been learning all season, and [our goalies] have taken a lot of rubber because of that,” he said to CHTM Radio.
Following this home series, the Northstars are in for a rough road trip this upcoming weekend, since they will be going head-to-head with the fifth-place Winnipeg Thrashers, the sixth-place Eastman Selects and the first-place Winnipeg Wild Feb. 8−10.
On top of that, the Northstars next home series Feb. 16−17 will feature them going up against the third-place Brandon Wheat Kings.
After that, the Northstars only have one more home series to contend with the following weekend before their 2018−19 regular season comes to a close.
