Mustangs even Bourgault Cup at a game apiece

A game one victory in the Bourgault Cup had Humboldt eyeing an early stranglehold on the series but a former Bronco had other ideas.

Rock Ruschkowski scored twice in the first period staking Melfort to a 2-0 lead after one period and the visitors couldn’t quite recover falling 6-3 in game two of the best-of-seven series. 20-year-old defenseman Logan Boulet said the team was hoping to come home up two games after a game one victory but a split is positive.

“We didn’t really want to lose one but the idea was getting a split when they host the first two games. It’s a five game series now, we have home ice, that’s what we wanted,” Boulet said.

Humboldt cut the lead in half early in the second, Brayden Camrud scored his second of the playoffs from Conner Lukan and Logan Schatz on the power-play but 59 seconds later Drew Warketine restored the two-goal lead. The Broncos responded again before the second period was over, Jaxon Joseph burned his former team again scoring his third goal of the series and first of the night making the score 3-2.

Justin Ball beat Jacob Wassermann with a seeing-eye wrist shot on a Melfort man-advantage just past the seen-minute mark of the third period. Carson Albrecht made the score 5-2 with a similar looking power-play marker with nine minutes played in the final frame. Joseph scored again at 12:47 cutting the lead to two but the Broncos couldn’t get any closer. Zach Anderson found the empty net with eight seconds to play capping the scoring. Boulet went back to the two goal deficit early as a key reason in the loss.

“The first period wasn’t what we wanted; I thought we played really well in the second and third periods. We hit double-posts and posts, had scrambles around the net, just couldn’t get one more to get the momentum back on our side,” Boulet said.

Wassermann allowed five goals on 33 shots; Evan Plotnik was named the games’ first star stopping 33 of 36 shots. The series now shifts to the Elgar Petersen Arena on Tuesday and Wednesday. Boulet said the series is just ramping up and the EPA should be electric.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be a sweep, each game is getting more and more exciting. Scrums after every whistle, if you want to watch some good hockey, the EPA is the place to be,” he said.

The Broncos office is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Season ticket holders have until the end of the business day Monday to secure their seats. Colony Motor Products is offering a chance for someone to win $25,000 in prizes. More details will be outlined Monday morning.