Braden Mellon broke a personal scoring slump just 23 seconds into the game Sunday afternoon, as the Red Wings rung in 2017 with a 4-1 win over the Estevan Bruins. The win came in front of 949 fans at Crescent Point Place, who came out for the matinee affair.

Mellon’s goal, his first since October 28th, came when he saw an opening on the right-hand side of Bruins starting goalie Curtis Meger, and his back-hand shot found its way into the twine. The Bruins weren’t going to let the lead stand for long, though.

With just a little over 13 minutes left in the opening period, the Bruins were on the power-play, with Tyran Brown in the box for cross-checking. Jason Miller fired the puck on net, and it came off the post onto the stick of Johnny Witzke. Witzke put it into the open net, as Carter Phair was out of position, evening the score up. The goal was the second against the Wings in as many games for Witzke.

From there, the goaltending took over, especially in the Estevan zone. Weyburn would outshoot the Bruins 15-5 in the opening period, but Meger was able to stop everything that was thrown at him. The teams would skate the dressing room knotted at one, but the Bruins would get to start the second period on the power play, after Mike Eskra got two minutes for roughing at the buzzer.

The Wings killed off the penalty to Eskra, and then went back on the offensive. Jamieson Ree, playing against the Bruins for just the second time, picked up the puck just outside the Estevan blueline, and skated in, firing it on goal. Meger thought he had gotten enough of it to get the save, but Ree noticed it was loose in the crease, and banged it home for his first goal as a Red Wing.

Estevan was back on their heels, and the Wings looked for a way to get some insurance. It came just past the halfway mark of the period, when Jake Wozney passed the puck to his brother Noah, behind the Estevan net. Noah saw he didn’t have a chance to wrap it around, so passed it up to Donavon Lumb. Lumb’s shot from about three feet from the crease bounced off a few skates, before hitting the back of the net, giving the Wings a 2-1 lead.

Just 55 seconds later, Weyburn grew the lead to three goals. Dylan McCabe Fired a point shot towards Meger, and it was knocked down by Bruins defenseman Josh Regier. The puck ended up on the stick of Cole Woodliffe who wasted no time in firing it past Meger. The goal would see Meger chased from between the pipes, as Nathan Alalouf came in to take his place.

In the third period, the Bruins began to show some signs of life, but were unable to solve Phair. The Weyburn netminder faced 11 shots in the third period, none of which were able to get past him. In all, Phair made 33 saves in the game to earn the win, his first since returning from an injury.

The Red Wings will now have a few days to work on what head coach Wes Rudy thinks needs to be improved on, before a pair of home games. They host the Notre Dame Hounds Friday, then they get a visit from the top team in the SJHL, as the Battlefords North Stars come to town.