The Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors are heading into the Christmas break on a winning note.
The Warriors overcame a 4-1 deficit with three straight second-period goals and would go on to a 5-4 overtime win over the Estevan Bears in Estevan on Sunday afternoon.
The victory saw the Warriors improve to 10-13-0-3 on the Sask Male AAA Hockey League season, good enough for the eighth and final playoff spot in the 12-team league, a point back of Warman, two back of Prince Albert and two up on Yorkton.
It looked like it was going to be one of those days for the Warriors in the early going.
Josh Heistad and Kole Keen scored the only goals of the first period as Estevan took a 2-0 lead out of the opening 20 minutes.
Grady Hoffman got one back for the Warriors 2:49 into the second period, but the Bears were quick to respond as Blaze Gutzke restored the two-goal edge three minutes later and Teigan Semchyshen made it 4-1 at the 8:07 mark.
The rest of the period was all Moose Jaw.
Liam Fitzpatrick scored for the Warriors with 9:28 remaining, Bryce Boughen made it a one-goal game a minute later and Rhett Perrin would tie things up with 3:21 to play in the frame.
That’s where things remained until the 2:34 mark of overtime, when Fitzpatrick sent the visitors home happy with his 15th goal of the season.
Ryan Bain stopped nine shots in 24:17 of work to earn the win, while Ryan Hicks played 38:09 and made 17 saves. The Warriors had 27 shots on the Bears’ Kade Perron.
The weekend didn’t start out well for the Warriors, as Estevan took a 3-1 lead out of the first period Saturday night and held on for a 5-2 win.
Gutzke, Heistad and Tristan Grohs all scored for the Bears in the opening frame, with Grohs’ marker coming shorthanded with 4:19 to play.
Jake Briltz would get one back for the Warriors on that same power play, though, and their two-goal deficit would carry over into the third period.
There, Connor Miller made things interesting with 7:47 gone in the frame, with his power play marker getting Moose Jaw back within a single goal.
Keen restored the two-goal edge with 3:43 to play and then finished things off with a shorthanded empty netter with 1:58 remaining.
Bain stopped seven shots in the first 15:41 before being replaced by Hicks, who made 17 saves the rest of the way for the Warriors. Perron had 29 saves for Estevan.
The Winmar Warriors are now into their Christmas break and return to the ice on Wednesday, Jan, 4 against the Warman Wildcats in a game rescheduled due to the Nov. 6 snowstorm. Game time is 8 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
