Terriers Fall In A Shootout To Nipawin
Photo Credit: Simple Shots By Jackie Yorkton extended their point streak to four games, however, the Nipawin Hawks edged the Terriers 4-3 in a shootout. Clay Sleeva had a pair of goals including the game tying marker, while Steven Norum and Zach McIntyre had two points each.
Yorkton opened the scoring very early into a first period. Norum picked up a rebound off the pad of Chase Hamm and found a wide open Sleeva at the point, where he fired it through past a screened Hamm to make it 1-0 Terriers. The Hawks tied the game at one on an innocent looking play. In a scrum along the boards, Maguire Ratzlaff pulled the puck loose into the face-off circle, where Alex Johnson wired a shot past Tresor Wotton. Yorkton responded on the power-play. Immediately off a face-off win by Norum, Tanner Sklaruk fed a pass across the blue-line to McIntyre, who unleashed a bomb past Hamm for his 14th goal of the season. Nipawin found a way to tie the game before the end of the first period. On a 5-on-3 power-play of their own, a point shot from Bryden Kiesman going well wide of the Yorkton net bounced off the chest of Braxton Buckberger and past Wotton to make it a 2-2 hockey game.
The Hawks took their first lead of the game in the second period. Cole Beamin threw the puck on goal from the point, which Wotton never saw past a screen, giving Nipawin a 3-2 lead. It looked like Nipawin would extend their lead late in the second, but Wotton made a tremendous save lunging to his left to rob Joel Mabin. The scoring dried up until late in the third period. With less than two minutes to go, Sleeva picked up the puck at his own blue-line and charged into the Nipawin. There the Canora lobbed the puck on goal and it slipped through the glove of Hamm to tie the game at 3. For Sleeva, it was his 12th goal of the year.
The game headed to overtime, where Nipawin had the best opportunities to win, thanks to a pair of power-plays. However, Wotton slammed the door shut and the penalty killers provided tremendous support for their goalie, to send the game to a shootout. Kishaun Gervais opened the scoring in the shootout, but he was the lone goal scorer for the Terriers in the skills competition. Christian Albertson tied the shootout and Kiesman on a slick move won the game for Nipawin.
The Terrier will now start a three game home-stand in four days. It will start on Wednesday, when the Viterra Division leading Estevan Bruins visit the Westland Insurance Arena. The game can be found on the GX 94 online only stream, with the pre-game show starting at 7:20pm and play-by-play kicking off at 7:30pm.