Parkland earns 3 of 4 points on weekend travels
The Parkland Rangers picked up three points on the weekend as they worked overtime on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The ‘Big Blue’ delivered an outstanding effort on Saturday in a 3-2 win over the defending champion Winnipeg Wild before falling 4-3 to the Interlake Lightning one day later. The results leave Parkland in 8th place in the MBU18AAA League at 1-2-2.
Tavyn Boychuk ripped home the winner in overtime on Saturday at the Hockey For All Centre to lift the Rangers over the talented Wild. MBU18AAA Player of the Week Cam Sarna scored both Parkland goals in the opening frame and created a half-dozen good chances as the Rangers nursed a 2-0 lead late into the third period. Sarna’s first was a slick wraparound finish just 89 seconds into the game. Just over ten minutes later, Sarna scored again as a result of an excellent second effort by Ethan McMullan who made a dangerous rush and then battled to keep the rebound loose for Sarna to finish into a yawning cage. Alternate Captain Hayden Seib also picked up a helper on the play. The Wild finally beat Ranger tendy Chase Glover off a designed face-off play with just over four minutes remaining. Cole Babych then deflected a point shot in for a power play goal only 43 seconds later to send the game to extra time. In the overtime, Boychuk took a pass from Maddox Shindle at centre ice and swept around a Wild defender before blasting a seeing-eye BB between the Wild goalie’s pad on the short side to send the Rangers fans home happy. Glover was excellent in the game, stopping 28 of 30 shots and the Rangers back end put in a solid effort that was gritty and efficient against the swift-skating Wild.
Sunday’s trip to Teulon got off to a slower start as Parkland picked up five straight penalties through the opening 25 minutes. Glover and the penalty killers battled to limit the damage and managed to escape the opening frame only down 1-0. Ironically, most of the good work was undone on the Rangers opening power-play of the game when Lightning leading scorer Brandon Burak broke loose for a shorthanded breakaway goal. Trailing by a pair of goals, the Parkland PP went to work, scoring three times in 99 seconds to grab the lead. Cash Clarkson got the party started with an assist to McMullan on the same power play that had yielded Burak’s breakaway goal. Interlake was called for tripping off the ensuing centre ice draw and the Rangers wasted no time in tying up, Sarna tapping one in at the back door on a feed from Shindle. McMullan picked up his second helper of the game on the play. With momentum clearly shifted into the visitor’s favour, Interlake picked up an interference penalty off the centre-ice face off and the Parkland PP didn’t let them off the hook. Cade Legaarden came flying off the bench to bury a nice feed from Alex Campbell and nudge the Rangers in front for the first time. Shindle picked up his second helper of the game on the play. The score remained 3-2 Rangers throughout the remainder of the second period and Parkland looked to have closed out the Lightning until a deflected point-shot found the net over Glover’s shoulder with just under 8 seconds remaining. Despite being gutted by the late goal, the Rangers gave it a good push early in the OT, Shindle’s shot off the post being the closest that they came to finding a winner. Unfortunately, Burak jumped on a Rangers miscue to score his second breakaway goal of the afternoon and frustrate the visitors. Glover made 29 saves in the defeat while the Rangers peppered Alex Myers with 38 shots on the day, thanks to a ferocious forecheck by the Parkland forwards.
Despite the disappointment of Sunday’s finish, the squad returned to Dauphin with three out of four points and some positive take-aways. Up next, the undefeated Brandon Wheat Kings make a visit to Dauphin’s CUP for a Friday night showdown.
Rangers Ramblings: Cam Sarna was named MBU18AAA Player of the Week for his heroics during the Rangers’ road trip. Sarna scored three times and was a menace all weekend… At the conclusion of the weekend’s games, only Brandon remains unbeaten at 6-0-0… Cash Clarkson currently leads the Rangers in scoring with 2-2-4 through 5 games… Former Ranger Jayce Legaarden had 4 points in Winkler’s 9-0 rout of WayWay and was selected as one of the Original 16 3 Stars of the Week in the MJHL… Ranger alum Dru Mushmanski recently picked up his first WHL point. Mushmanski has one point through five games with the Regina Pats… Former Ranger Steven Arp has turned in 5 points through the first 9 games of WHL action with the Wenatchee Wild… This weekend the Rangers host the Brandon Wheat Kings (Friday, October 20) and the Norman North Stars (Saturday and Sunday)… Friday’s game is the annual Cancer Care game. Puck drop is at 7:30 pm…
