MUSKIES Ryan Clarke breaks through along the boards in Friday night’s 5-0 win over Durham Thundercats. Photo/MIKE MALONEY In hockey, there are no points awarded for artistic merit - only on the end result. Thats probably a good thing for the Shelburne Muskies who 'were not pretty' but got the job done, collecting a pair of wins in games against Durham and Saugeen Shores this past weekend.

Starting the weekend in Durham on Friday night, the Fish got off to a slow first period start. Knowing the Muskies penchant for playing a physical game, the Thundercats seemed more intent on taunting and intimidation than playing hockey. And for a while, the Fish took the bait resulting in an early ejection for Muskies Jeff McCarty and a few trips to the penalty box for others.

But those tactics also earned Durham a few penalties of their own, which Shelburne capitalized on. First, Tristan Fairburn intercepted a 'Cats clearing pass just inside the Durham blueline and quickly handed off to Muskie sniper Zac Duerden, who wired home his first of two on the night.

Midway through the second, it was Duerden again, redirecting a shot from brother Josh, again on the power play, to make it 2-0 before James Maunders tagged his first of the season with four minutes left to play in the mid-frame.

Fairburn was the goto guy in the third, first wiring up a drop pass by Brad Horan past "Cats cager Scott Kuglin, then adding an empty netter in the final minutes to seal off the scoresheet at 5-0 for Shelburne.

Back home in the familiar confines of the CDRC, it was their nemesis from Port Elgin, the Saugeen Shore Winterhawks, taking over the visitors bench in the second of their two scheduled regular season meetings.

Even with a short bench full of sore bodies, the Muskies to a man knew to win they had to not just step it up, but needed play physical as well.

That they did from the opening face-off and found themselves up 3-0 in the first 10 minutes of play on goals from Brad Horan, Ted Butcher and Chris Greer.

Saugeen would manage to get one back on an unassisted marker from Brent MacDonald at the 11:20 mark before Horan notched his second of the game, a power-play goal assisted by Fairburn and John MacArthur with 4:50 left to play in the period.

The two teams again swapped a pair early in the second before a a pair of double minors to MacArthur with Chris Ritchie already serving two almost turned the tide for Saugeen.

Just seconds into the Port Elgin power-play, Muskies Matt Lougheed picked up a lose puck off the draw and driving down the middle, poked one under a stunned 'Hawks tender, Jeremy Beaty.

For the Fish though, the goal proved to be a godsend as Saugeen's Ryan Dudgeon turned into a one man wrecking crew, scoring three power-play markers over the span of two minutes to draw Saugeen back within striking distance, making the score 6-5.

Riding that momentum, the Winterhawks turned up the heat on Shelburne goalie Rob Senay but as usual, Senay rose to the challenge, turning away the balance of 21 second period shots sent his way to preserve the Muskie lead. With less than minute remaining in the second, it was again penalty trouble that impacted on the scoreboard but this time it was the 'Hawks turn to pay.

Zac Duerden would set up both brother Josh and Kevin Tuckey in the final minute to restore the three goal cushion heading into the third period.

Refusing to roll over, the boys from Port Elgin again peppered Senay with shot after shot only to be rewarded once again by Dudgeon only to have Lougheed cancel that out with his six of the season from Horan at 17:40,, the last goal of the game making it 9-6 for Shelburne and earning them their 11th win of the season.

With five games remaining in the regular season, there is no rest in store for Shelburne if they plan hanging onto second place in the WOAA Northern division standings. Currently the Muskies record of 11 wins, two regulation and two overtime/shoot-ot losses gives them a total of 24 points, just one ahead of both Ripley and Saugeen Shores and only three ahead of Durham.

Friday night finds the Fish making the trek west to Ripley and you can count on the Wolves bringing their A game to the rink, looking to swap places with Shelburne in the standings with a win. Saturday night, Shelburne finds themselves again back home for a tilt against the Lucknow Lancers, game time 8 p.m. at the CDRC.