The Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors didn’t show any quit in their Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League contest with the Saskatoon Blazers on Saturday afternoon but still ended up falling short on the scoreboard.
The Warriors scored twice in the final 11 minutes to overcome a 4-2 deficit and eventually send the contest into overtime before dropping a 5-4 decision at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The single point sees the Warriors continue to hold onto third place in the SMAAAHL standings, with several teams chasing them in action later Saturday.
Moose Jaw’s Ryder Knutson and Saskatoon’s Raiden Zacharias exchanged goals in the first period as the two teams found themselves in a 1-1 draw.
Little was solved in the second period as Leo Seitz gave the Blazers a one-goal edge 2:37 into the period, only to see Knutson score his second of the game on the power play with 12:12 to go in the frame.
That set the stage for an eventful final period. League scoring leader Cole Reschny scored 2:43 into the third and was followed four minutes later by Josh Knittig to give Saskatoon their 4-2 lead, but things turned dramatically just over three minutes later.
Dylan Duzan got the Warriors back within one with 10:27 to play and was followed only 1:06 later by Owen Prohar with the tying goal.
The rest of the period solved nothing, sending the contest into overtime. There, Saskatoon’s Trae Wilke took advantage of the open ice afforded by three-on-three play to circle the Warriors zone before beating goaltender Ryan Bain with a low shot with 2:12 to play.
Bain finished with 30 saves on the day, while the Warriors fired 33 at the Blazers’ Grayson Malinowski.
Liam Fitzpatrick picked up a pair of assists for the Warriors to move into a tie for the SMAAAHL scoring lead with Reschny, each with 14 points.
The Blazers improved to 5-1-0-1 with the win, taking over sole possession of first place from the Regina Pat Canadians.
The two teams are right back in action on Sunday, with puck drop at 1:30 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
