SWIFT CURRENT -- The Moose Jaw WINMAR Warriors have forced a fifth and deciding game in their Sask Male AAA Hockey League semifinal series with the Swift Current Legionnaires.
Team captain Brennan Brown scored at 8:11 of the second overtime period to give the Warriors a 3-2 victory in Game 4 of the best-of-five series Wednesday night in Swift Current.
As a result, the series is now all tied up, with Game 5 set for Friday at Temple Gardens Centre in Moose Jaw.
Through two periods, it looked as if overtime wasn’t going to be needed at all, as the Warriors took the lead in the first and looked to have things in control.
Brown opened scoring only 2:28 into the proceedings and Kierin Osberg would score shorthanded with 4:15 to play in the opening frame, giving Moose Jaw their 2-0 edge.
Kasey Gleim got the Legionnaires back within a goal with a shorthanded marker of his own with 3:25 gone in the third, and there things would remain until the game’s dying minutes. Carter Moen tied things up with his seventh of the playoffs, with his marker coming with 1:33 left in regulation and goaltender Berney Weston pulled for the extra attacker.
The two teams then ended up in double overtime for the second time in the series, setting the stage for Brown’s heroics. He’d take a pass off the end boards and get a step on his man behind the net before circling out front and stuffing home a wrap-around.
It was also the third game of the series to go to overtime, with each game decided by a goal. Swift Current won 3-2 in double OT in Game 1 and took a 2-1 win in Game 2 before Moose Jaw won 3-2 in OT in Game 3, setting up Wednesday’s contest.
Luke McKechnie picked up the win in net with 37 saves, while Weston once again had an exceptionally busy outing, stopping 53 shots.
The fifth and deciding game of the series now goes Friday night at Temple Gardens Centre, with puck drop at 7 p.m.
The winner of that contest will advance to the Sask Male AAA Hockey League championship final against the Regina Pat Canadians after Regina finished off their series in four games with the Saskatoon Blazers.
