The Parkland Rangers clinched a playoff spot after splitting a pair of games with the Winnipeg Thrashers in Winnipeg over the weekend.

Winnipeg clinched its spot in the postseason with an 11-6 win over Parkland on Friday.

Carter Bear had two goals and three assists and Daniel Tokariwski scored once and added four assists to lead the Thrashers. Xyon Kiemeney chipped in with two goals and two assists and Hayden Chaloner scored three times and Brycen Gair, Joshua Fast and Kyle Grysiuk added singles.

Kyan Grouette led the Rangers with two goals and two assists, while Rylan Gibbs, Parker Boguski, Marco Bodnarski and Hayden Seib each scored once. Connor Stewart made 24 saves in recording the win.

Kyle Swanton and Brenden Birch-Hayden split the netminding duties for Parkland, combining to make 27 saves.

The Rangers got a measure of revenge on Saturday, scoring a 6-5 victory.

This time it was Gibbs leading the way for Parkland with two goals and two assists, netting the winner with 6:17 remaining in the third period.

Will Munro, Bodnarski, Dru Mushumanski and Grouette also scored, while Birch-Hayden stopped 41 shots to record the win. Jayce Legaarden chipped in the three assists.

Kiemeney scored twice and added an assist, while Bear had a goal and two assists to lead the Thrashers. Peyton Hinkel-Lysak and Dobie Unrau had the other goals and Stewart had 19 saves in the loss.

Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said Friday’s game was as bad as the score indicates.

One of the things the Rangers struggle with, he added, is consistency.

“One game where we’re firing on all cylinders and the next night we’re flat. And I know it’s hard to do and what’s hard is to bring it every night,” he said. “But we’re at a stage in the season where every game is very valuable and we have to be in the moment and we have to be prepared.”

It was a game, Carefoot added, that the Rangers would not look back on and simply move forward and onto the next contest.

Carefoot did not have to say much to get the players ready for Saturday’s game as they realized the situation they were in.

“One day we could be in fourth place and the next morning, if you don’t win, you could be in seventh place and they recognized that,” he said. “We were a completely different team.”

While the Rangers did play better overall, Carefoot would like to see the team play better defensively.

“We need to be a little bit harder to play against in the D zone. You look at our firepower, we can definitely put pucks in the net. But we have to look after our D zone if we’re going to have any success in the next four games and moving further in the playoffs,” he said, noting the Rangers had a 5-2 lead at one point on Saturday only for the Thrashers to come back and tie the game.

“I have to give them credit. There could have been some adversity. We could have played with fear, but rather we kept on going and we were able to get the winning goal.”

Carefoot and his staff felt they could split the four games against the Thrashers, which they did.

“We have to be satisfied with that. But I also think that we need to tidy up our D zone if we’re going to have any success in the next 10 days, for sure,” he said.

The Rangers have four games remaining in their regular season.

Tonight, they host the Southwest Cougars at 7:30 p.m. On the weekend, they are in Teulon to face the Interlake Lightning, Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Carefoot knows the Cougars will be tough.

“Southwest has been personally my kryptonite the last two-and-a-half-years being involved in the program. I think this season we’re 0-3,” he said.

“They’re a well coached team. They play very disciplined with their structure. They’re not that offensive, but they just kind of hang around and they capitalize on their opportunities. We’re going to, hopefully, find a way to get the two points.”

Interlake may be in last place in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League, but they will not be a pushover as they proved on Sunday, taking the Brandon Wheat Kings to overtime.

“They’re definitely a tough out. They’re very gritty. They do take a lot of penalties. But they played Brandon hard this past weekend. We have to be ready,” Carefoot said, adding the Rangers must play each game in the moment as each two points are valuable for seeding.

The regular season ends, Feb. 21, when the Rangers host the Winnipeg Bruins at 7:30 p.m.