Unlucky Bounce Downs Terriers

It was a goaltending duel at the West Central Events Centre, however, the Yorkton Terriers fell to the Kindersley Klippers 3-2 in a shootout. Despite the loss, Yorkton walked away from western Saskatchewan with three of a possible four points and sole position of 6th place in the SJHL.

Both goalies were rock solid in the first period, making save after save. Kindersley found a way to strike first, very late into the period. Aidan Bangs won an offensive zone face-off and Brayden Koch fed Nathan DeGraves who wired the puck through a crowd past Kael DePape to make it 1-0 Klippers.

Terriers responded in the second period. Maddux Nollski fired a shot on Matthew Pesenti, who fumbled the rebound, and Erik Boers poked home the rebound for his 12th goal of the season. The Terriers continued to push for an equalizer but were stymied by Pesenti, who made 50 saves in the contest.

Yorkton found the go ahead marker midway through the third period. A wrist shot from Colby Vranai hit the body of Zach McIntyre in front of Pesenti, giving the Terriers a 2-1 lead. Luck would not be with the Terriers. With less than two minutes remaining, a Klipper dump in took a hometown bounce of the backboard, alluding DePape, and landing directly on the stick of Tylin Hilbig, who buried the puck in the open net to tie the game at two. Overtime beckoned where the Terriers had some excellent chances, but they couldn’t solve Pesenti. Pesenti stopped all three Terrier shooters in the shootout, while Austin Schaab deked out DePape with the last shot of the game to give Kindersley the victory.

Yorkton will have a couple days off before they face the Melville Millionaires at home for the 10th and final meeting of the regular season. The game will be on the GX 94 online only stream, with the pre-game show at 7:20pm and play-by-play kicking off at 7:30pm.