The Parkland Rangers remain in the hunt for a playoff spot as the Christmas break looms.
The Rangers split a pair of games with the Pembina Valley Hawks, this past weekend on home ice.
Ryzlie Nepinak’s goal with 9:18 remaining in the third period lifted Parkland to a 4-3 win, Saturday night.
Alex Campbell, Cam Sarna and Hayden Seib also scored for the Rangers, while Kam Thomas with two and Sam Delaquis replied for the Hawks.
Chase Glover had 34 saves to pick up the win in goal. Bryson Yaschyshyn made 28 saves in a losing cause.
On Sunday afternoon, Liam Goertzen scored twice to lead the Hawks to a 7-2 win.
Acoyen Fehr, Haiden Friesen, Charlie Hill, Thomas and Brett Lesage had Pembina Valley’s other goals, while Maddox Shindle and Cash McCallum scored for Parkland.
Ryler Gates had 21 saves in the win, while Ethan Myhre stopped 16 shots in taking the loss.
Parkland’s record now sits at 9-11-2-1 for 21 points. They are in 10th place, but sit just one point out of a playoff spot and are two points out of seventh and five back of thew sixth-place Winnipeg Thrashers.
Following Sunday’s loss, a frustrated Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot was not pleased with the team’s play in either game.
“We greased one out (Saturday). Found a way to win. If you look back at the last seven games, we got points in five of the last seven games. The standard of accountability changes as you win more and as you earn points,” he said. “So (Saturday) we found a way to win, we greased one out. But overall, collectively, I didn’t like a lot of things about (Saturday’s) game. But we got the two points.”
Sunday’s game, Carefoot said, was “super discouraging”, adding the game was emphasized for its importance.
“And right from puck drop, lack of urgency, lack of puck management, lack of game management. We were flat. Everything was flat. Pretty much from top to bottom, it was flat.”
In a league where there is so much parity and every game is important with playoff implications on the line, Carefoot feels the Rangers are in a position to write their own ticket when it comes to the postseason.
“Did we think we would be in a playoff spot right now? We’re battling for playoff position. So now to have a result like today in very discouraging,” he said. “But the Parkland Rangers, we’re resilient, we’re going to persevere and Tuesday is now the most important game of the season.”
That Tuesday game Carefoot spoke of is the final game before the Christmas break, a tilt in Shoal Lake against the Yellowhead Chiefs, who trail Parkland by five points.
Carefoot said the team has to overcome its lackluster play to beat the Chiefs, even though some players are playing sick.
“But we can’t use that as an excuse. There’s guys that have to step up. We have to simplify our game. The more urgent we play with all the little details that teams talk about that brings success, everything just gets a little bit easier. But this weekend, lackluster,” he said. “It’s a choice. It’s hard to work hard, but Tuesday is massive for our group. Because we have an opportunity to have to 10 wins. I’d be lying to you. Did I think we were going to have 10 wins this season? No, I didn’t. We can have 10 wins before Christmas. That’s pretty awesome. But we laid an egg this weekend.”
NOTE: Tuesday's game has now been postponed as players on both sides continue to fight illnesses.
