Mintos down, but not out

The Prince Albert Mintos immediately find themselves in a must win situation after suffering an opening day loss to the Winnipeg Thrashers at the Telus Cup Western Regionals in Moose Jaw.

Rory Court, Brendyn Illchuck and Connor Lockhart scored singles, while Teagan Sacher blocked 23 shots leading the Thrashers to a 3-1 victory over the Mintos Thursday.

They knocked us to the mat, but it’s up to us to get back to our feet and come out swinging Friday,” said Mintos head coach Tim Leonard.

The Thrashers hit the score sheet midway through the first period when Court banged home a rebound out of midair. P.A. outshot the Thrashes 12-10 in what was a fast paced, hard hitting opening 20 minutes.

The Mintos came out of the dressing room in the second and dominated the opening half of the period, but came away empty. Regan Wilton missed a breakaway and the Mintos failed to convert on several odd man chances, including two three on ones.

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“We generated quite a few good chances ourselves. That’s just the way it goes sometimes,” said Leonard.

Illchuck gave the Thrashers a 2-1 lead at the 28 second mark of the third when he tipped home a point shot on the power play

The Mintos finally solved Sacher with 4:37 remaining in the third. Wilton atoned for his miss in the second by scoring on a pretty deke move to make it 2-1. But P.A. would get no closer as Lockhart salted the game away with an empty netter.

Even though it was a game Leonard said they could have won he wasn’t entirely pleased with how the team preformed.

“We can be better,” Leonard said, adding nerves may have upset the chemistry.

“I think the guys were squeezing the stick pretty tight. A lot of them have never been in this type of competition before.”

These two teams have a history at this tournament.

The Mintos tied and beat the Winnipeg Thrashers in 2006 in Tisdale, eventually going on to win the national championship. The result was the same the following year in Brandon. The Mintos beat the Thrashers on their way to a second straight Telus Cup title.

“It’s a good win,” said Thrashers coach Dan Eliasson, who followed the match up while coaching the Minor Midget Sharks, a feeder team for the Thrashers.

The win definitely makes the next two games easier, but we still have two more tough games, said Eliasson.

The (1-0) Thrashers take on the (0-0-1) Thunder Bay Kings Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Next up for the (0-1) Mintos is host (0-0-1) Moose Jaw at 7:30 p.m.

900 CKBI will again carry live game updates. You can also follow the Mintos on paNOW.com.

bbosker@panow.com