The race for top spot in the Big Six Hockey League is coming down to the wire.
The Carnduff Red Devils have held the league lead for most of the season. At 12-1-2 with 26 points, they have a two-point advantage over the Redvers Rockets, although the Rockets, at 12-1, have two games in hand.
Carnduff won their lone game of the past week, routing the Bienfait Coalers 9-1 and avenging a 3-2 overtime loss five days earlier. Carnduff put the game away early with six goals in the first period.
The loss ended the Coalers seven-game winning streak.
Redvers closed the gap on top spot on the weekend. First they defeated the Yellow Grass Wheat Kings 4-1 on Jan. 10 in a clash of two of the top two teams in the league. They also trounced the Wawota Flyers 7-1 the following day.
The Coalers (9-5) moved into third spot with a 7-4 win over the Kipling-Windthorst Oil Kings on Jan. 15. Bienfait scored three times in the second to take a 5-2 lead, and added another early in the third for a 6-2 advantage.
The Wheat Kings (8-4) sit fourth. They lost their lone game of the week against Redvers.
The Carlyle Cougars sit fifth in the standings at 7-7-1. They had the week off, and they’re trying to hold off the sixth place Wawota Flyers (6-5-1), who recovered from their loss to Redvers to trounce the Arcola-Kisbey Combines 8-2 on Jan. 12.
The Midale Mustangs (4-9) defeated the Oil Capitals 7-2 on Jan. 10, but then lost 8-4 to the Arcola-Kisbey Combines (2-13-1) the next night. It was the Combines first on-ice victory of the season, as Arcola-Kisbey’s other win came after the Bienfait Coalers were disqualified for ineligible players in a game during the opening weekend of the season. Derrek Fleck had four goals for the Combines to beat Midale.
The Oil Kings (2-12) were sitting ninth entering the game against Bienfait.
Bienfait was scheduled to visit Kipling-Windthorst on Jan. 15. (Results were not available before press time).
Four games will be played on Jan. 17: Kipling-Windthorst at Redvers, Wawota at Bienfait, Yellow Grass at Carlyle and Carnduff at Midale.
Just one game is scheduled for Jan. 18: Wawota at Arcola-Kisbey.
Games for Jan. 19 include Redvers at Yellow Grass and Kipling-Windthorst at Midale.
The regular season will end Feb. 1.
