ESTEVAN - The Estevan Great North U18 AAA Bears' quest for their first-ever playoff spot will come down to the final week of the Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League's season.
The Bears picked up one of a possible four points in their weekend home games with the Moose Jaw Warriors. They lost 5-4 in a shootout to the Warriors on Saturday and 6-3 on Sunday.
With the wins, the Warriors clinched a playoff spot.
In Saturday's game, the Warriors had a 2-0 lead early in the first period, but Roan Burgess and Carter Onrait scored 38 seconds apart to tie the game. Moose Jaw scored twice, including a goal with 12 seconds remaining in the middle frame, to put the Warriors up 4-2 after two.
Thomas Ries and Talen Wallis tallied in the third to tie the game again, and after neither team scored in the rest of regulation or overtime, Moose Jaw had the lone goal in the shootout.
Kaden Perron stopped 30 shots on Saturday.
The winner of Sunday's game would clinch a playoff spot. Moose Jaw came out strong, hitting the post twice while short-handed early in the first and scoring twice later in the frame for a 2-0 lead.
The two teams traded goals in the second, with Wallis and Onrait scoring for Estevan. Onrait scored again in the third to pull the Bears to within one, but Moose Jaw had a power-play goal and an empty-net goal to wrap up the scoring.
Carson Deichert, who played minor hockey in Estevan at one time, had one of Moose Jaw's goals.
Perron made 34 saves for Estevan.
Estevan (17-18-7, 41 points) sits eighth in the league standings with two games remaining. They will close out the regular season on Feb. 24 and 25 at the Swift Current Legionnaires.
Estevan sits three points clear of the Saskatoon Contacts, who have two games left. Saskatoon finishes their season on Feb. 20 and 21 with home games against the Yorkton Maulers.
