U15 Rangers looking to find consistency

The Parkland U15 Rangers have had their fair share of ups and downs this season.

A definite highlight was winning a pair of games at the Graham Teur tournament in Regina. Meanwhile, in regular season play back in Manitoba, Parkland has won three games, their most recent came on Sunday against the Central Plains Capitals.

Tied at four with the Caps' at Credit Union Place after 40 minutes of play, the Rangers locked down defensively in the third and Ben Poole and Reese Scott found the back of the net as the Rangers skated off with a 6-4 victory.

The Rangers went 4-for-8 on the power play their they were 4-for-6 on the penalty kill. With the win, Parkland is now just 10 points back of eighth place in the 17-team circuit.

Matt Kustra is the team's head coach and he was very pleased with the effort.

"I was very proud of how the guys came out in the third and really focused to get the job done," said Kustra. "They had a 6-on-3 late in the game and we were able to keep the puck out of our net which is a huge confidence booster. It was a gutsy win for our club."

Brayden Budolowski leads the team offensively with his 13 goals and 23 points while Noah Smigelsy has 17 points. Dayson Martin (12), Ben Poole (12), and Noah Hanneson (11) are the three other members of the club who have double-digit points.

In the net, it's been a combo of Kyle Pelletier and Xander Perih. Pelletier has played just more than 387 minutes while Perih has played just more than 332 minutes. Perih was in the net Sunday for the team's victory and he was excellent as the Dauphinite turned away 29 shots to record his second win of the season. Perih improved his save percentage to .853.

Kustra, who is a goaltender himself, is very impressed by both young men.

"They both are extremely resilient, they never quit and they push each other in a healthy way to be better," ended Kustra. "We don't have a number one goalie, we have two guys who want to play and can win us games."

Looking for their second straight win, Parkland will look to achieve the feat on Saturday when they head to Warren to play the Interlake Lightning, a team that also has three wins on the season. Then on Sunday, Parkland is off to Landmark to play the powerhouse Eastman Selects. The Selects have won 10 of their 13 games so far.