The Weyburn Red Wings are clicking along well as a team right now, giving chase to the first-place Melville Millionaires for top spot in the Sherwood Conference, helped by a decisive 5-1 win over the money men in Weyburn on Saturday night.

That victory was due in part to strong efforts by the Junior B players called up by the Red Wings to help out while some key players are out due to injuries, illness or suspensions, said coach Dwight McMillan, but overall it was a total team effort that led to the second win this week.

"We had everybody come to play hard for us. Our defence played strong, and our forwards back-checked," said McMillan. "We checked well and we never let them get going. We made them work hard for everything they got."

Both teams traded goals in the opening frame, with Morgan Buetow starting things off for the Red Wings early on, answered by Melville's Brett Harrison, the only goal Melville would manage on the night.

The hometown Wings dominated play in the second and third periods, with goals from Mike Costley and Jason Vermeulen in the middle frame, and from Christian Cote and Vermeulen in the third period.

"Vermeulen's goal late in the second was a big goal for us, and the fourth and fifth goal just killed them," exulted McMillan, adding of the win, "That's a four-point hockey game, a big win for us."

With Weyburn having three games on hand compared to Melville, the Red Wings are in a good position to take over as the top team in the south division. The Saturday night win followed a 10-2 trouncing of the Yorkton Terriers earlier in the week.

Scoring in that game was led by Jason Vermeulen with a hat trick, two each from Mike Costley and Lee Gusikowski, and singles from Emery Olauson, Regan Rome and Curt Corbett.

Vermeulen's scoring on the week was good enough to lift him into second spot on the SJHL's list of goal scorers with 29, behind only Mike Markell of Melville who has 32 goals. On the overall points list, Christian Cote sits in fourth place in the SJHL with 54, and Vermeulen is ninth with 45 points. Cote is second in the league for total assists (39) and is fifth for scoring power play goals, with Vermeulen eighth on that list.

Coach McMillan pointed out Kevin Myson has been filling in well in the goaltending job while Terry Denike is out, well enough to allow Weyburn to have two goalies in the league's top 10. Denike remains in second place with a goals-against average of 2.31, and Myson is seventh with an average of 3.41. Nationally, Denike is in seventh place, based on a minimum 540 minutes of play so far.

Some of the Junior B players singled out for their contributions lately included Gusikowski and Spence Dodd, both brought up from Assiniboia, and Morgan Buetow brought in from Fort Qu'Appelle.

"Those Junior Bs are going to get a lot of good ice time. If we need them in the playoffs, they can come right in and play with confidence," said McMillan, noting some of his key players will be out until close to or after Christmas.

The Red Wings' healthy performance is also partially due to strong special teams play, as Weyburn stands second-best in the SJHL for both power play and penalty-killing performances so far this season.

Part of the effort to reach and take over first place in the Sherwood Conference will require wins over Notre Dame at home this week (they played on Tuesday after press time), and road games in Nipawin on Friday and Flin Flon on Saturday and Sunday.