The Yorkton Terriers split a pair of home ice encounters with Kindersley on the weekend.
The split leaves the Terriers with a record of 5-6-1-1 for 12 points and second place in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Viterra Division, five points back of Melville.
Estevan sits third with 11-points, and Weyburn has 10.
Friday night the Terriers had a quick start with the Klippers as Dylan Baer scored 26-seconds into the contest to give Yorkton what would prove its only lead of the contest.
Derrick Morrell would send the teams to the dressing room tied 1-1 with a Klipper goal at 16:19.
It would be the Owen LaClare show the rest of the way, as the Klipper forward scored a pair of powerplay markers in the third, then completed a natural hat trick effort with an empty net goal late in the third to round out a 4-1 Kindersley win.
Evan Weninger faced 26-shots in the Klipper net for the win, while Dawson MacAuley was tagged with the loss facing 30.
Kindersley would be back in Yorkton for action Sunday after dropping a 3-2 decision to Melville in a shoot-out Saturday.
The first period Sunday was a scoreless affair but the second saw a spirited Terrier effort.
Amid four fights, Terriers Daylan Gatzke and Dayton Boutilier both scored powerplay goals to give Yorkton a 2-0 lead through 40-minutes. For Boutilier it was his first goal as a Terrier.
Devin Case put the visitors on the board 2:26 into the third, and Graham Lanigan tied things up at 5:34.
The 2-2 deadlock would last though regulation, forcing a five-minute, four-on-four extra frame.
Regan Seiferling would be the Terrier hero with an unassisted game-winner at 3:19 of the period.
Matt Kustra faced 39-shots in the Terrier nets for the win, while Weninger dealt with 46 in the loss.
Seiferling said his overtime winner was a big goal for both him, and the team.
"It's a big confidence boost," he said.
As for the end-to-end rush, Seiferling said the opportunity just presented itself to carry the puck.
"I just picked it up in our zone and saw an opportunity to take it up the ice," he said, adding as a lane opened for him to go to the net he saw Weninger making his move, and he put the puck high over the shoulder for the winner.
The win was also big in the sense the Terriers battled hard to get it.
"We were sticking up for each other," said Seiferling. "We competed the whole game, a full 60-minutes. We never backed down from them."
Terrier coach Trent Cassan said it was a win where the Terriers showed some grit.
"We needed something. We needed some kind of spark. Some push back, to play with some more consistency in our game," he said.
The Terrier coach said so far this season "we haven't played well on home ice on a consistent basis," but Sunday was a better effort in that regard.
Cassan said while the team let the two-goal lead evaporate in the third, they refocused to get a huge win.
"We've given up a lot of different leads at different times (this season)," he said. "It would have been deflating getting no points, or only one after having a two goal lead."
While reminding the Klippers were playing their sixth game in nine nights, and that the Terriers still have some big strides to take to get to where they need to be, the win had positives to build on.
"You can't let one game over inflate you," he said, and then added it was a much-needed winning effort.
As for the fisticuffs, Cassan said while fighting is less a part of the SJHL now, toughness remains an important element.
"We have to have overall team toughness," he said, adding fans still like that and when the crowd gets into a game "it's exciting and the guys feed off that."
The Terriers also had a big night getting shots on net with 46.
"That was a big part of it," said Seiferling, adding the Terrier coaching staff had been telling players "to get more shots to test the goalies."
Up next
The Yorkton Terriers are scheduled to host Flin Flon at the Farrell Agencies Arena tonight (Wednesday).
La Ronge rolls into Yorkton for action Friday.
Saturday the Terrier home game against Estevan will be played in Moosomin.
Tuesday Yorkton goes on the road to play in Weyburn.
