The opening twenty minutes of the latest installment of the Battle of Highway 10 saw both teams find the back of the net.
The visiting Yorkton Terriers opened the scoring just two minutes into the game. William Léonard redirected his 32nd goal of the campaign past Matt Spencer-Dahl to give Yorkton the early lead. Ryder McDonald and Gavin Bartha picked up the assists on the play.
The Mills responded on the power play, as Yibin Yoo capitalized on a 2-on-1 with Brayden Gourley to even the score at 1–1.
The Terriers were awarded their first power play late in the opening period when Riley Craigen was assessed a double minor for spearing, with the penalty carrying over into the middle frame.
Yorkton held a 12–9 edge in shots through the first period.
After killing off the penalty, the Mills grabbed their first lead of the evening thanks to a fortunate bounce. Keil Schmalz fired a shot from the neutral zone that struck the stanchion and ricocheted into the empty net as Callum Creig had come out to play the puck behind the goal.
The Terriers responded off the rush, as Ryder McDonald roofed his 10th of the season to tie the game at 2–2.
Yorkton controlled much of the second period, outshooting the Mills 14–5.
In the third period, the Terriers grabbed the lead once again as Léonard struck on the power play. The Mills answered back shortly after, however, as Hudson Binder snapped a shot post-and-in past Creig to tie the game once again.
The rest of regulation solved nothing, meaning extra hockey was needed.
Overtime featured Grade-A chances for both sides right from the opening shift. Kale Margolis had a breakaway but couldn’t convert, and both teams generated dangerous 2-on-1 opportunities that were turned aside.
Then at the midway point of the overtime session, a rebound kicked off the pad and landed on the stick of a wide-open Gabriel Courchesne, who made no mistake burying his 33rd goal of the season.
The win helped the Terriers clinch the Bunge Division crown — the franchise’s first since the 2019–20 campaign.
Callum Creig made 23 saves to earn the victory. The Terriers will wrap up their regular season schedule tomorrow at home against the Melville Millionaires and can clinch the second seed with a win. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM.
