ESTEVAN -- The Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League is no stranger to seeing unusual results from time to time, but the weekend set between the Moose Jaw WINMAR Warriors and Estevan Great North Bears was something else altogether.
One night after giving up eight goals in the third period and dropping a 9-2 decision in Estevan, the Warriors rebounded with five goals in the third period on Sunday to take a 7-1 victory.
The contests marked the end of the regular season for the Warriors, who will finish in second place in the SMAAAHL with a 32-9-3 record. They’ll now play the waiting game when it comes to their first-round opponent in the playoffs, as they’ll face the seventh-place team -- either the Prince Albert Mintos or Estevan, depending on how the remainder of the Bears’ schedule plays out.
Estevan is 21-18-2 and have three games remaining on their schedule after three weather-related cancellations during the regular season.
The best-of-five first-round series will likely start next Saturday in Moose Jaw.
Estevan 9, Moose Jaw 2
As lopsided as things turned out, the third period was actually back-and-forth up until the 4:06 mark of the frame.
Estevan had built a 5-2 lead to that point, but after pulling goaltender Kaleb Page for the extra attacker with 3:47 remaining, the Warriors opted to repeatedly leave the net empty the rest of the way. That would result in the Bears racking up four empty-net goals in the final 3:18, giving Estevan their eight-goal period.
Estevan’s Cameron Allard scored the lone goal of the game until the third only 52 seconds into the contest, and there things would remain until Moose Jaw’s Ryan Gibbs tied things up 17 seconds into the third.
Jase McNichol, Will Nicholson and Dylan Brass then extended the Bears lead to 4-1 before Max Fuessel got one back for the Warriors with 6:40 to play in the period.
Brass added his second with 4:06 remaining, after which Cooper Flath would score twice into the empty net while Boston Schmidt and Roan Burgess had single markers in the final 3:18.
Page faced 21 shots in the contest, while Brady Carr turned aside 37 for Estevan.
Moose Jaw 7, Estevan 1
The shoe was on the other foot in the rematch, as the Warriors scored three goals in just over seven minutes in the third period before adding a pair of empty-netters for the six-goal win.
Maxton Johnston had two goals in the final frame, while Gage Nagel, Noah Thul and Wade Franks all had single markers.
Estevan’s Brendan Jones and Moose Jaw’s Carson Park exchanged power play goals late in the first period, and Charlie Nameth had the lone goal for the Warriors in the second.
Johnston finished with three points in the game while Gibbs and Brennan Brown picked up a pair of assists each. Park, Nameth and Franks all had two assists each.
Luke McKechnie turned aside 16 shots to earn the win, Cole Ivey stopped 35 in taking the loss.
