The Yorkton Terriers trail Melville two-games-to-one in their Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League semi final following a last minute win by the Millionaires Monday night.
The third game in the series saw the hometown Terriers build a 3-2 lead in the first period at the Farrell Agencies Arena (FAA).
Kelly Leismeister, Nathan Murray and Tyler Giebel had the Terrier goals, with Lucas Froese and Michael Sagen scored for Melville.
The second period saw the teams trade goals, Brady Norrish for Yorkton and Alex Elliott for the Millionaires.
In the third period, Colin Mospanchuk tied the game 4-4 for the Mills 2:13 into the frame, with Connor Bradshaw netting the game-winner at 19:38.
Warren Shymko took the loss in the Terrier nets facing 32-shots, while Blake Voth had the Melville win facing 49-shots.
Terrier head coach Trent Cassan admitted the team didn't have the third period he would have hoped for Monday.
"I thought for whatever reason we didn't have as much jump (in the third)," he said, adding as a result the Millionaires were winning some of the crucial races to the puck.
While saying the last minute loss "stings tonight", Cassan was not writing off the series at all, terming "a loss is a loss in the playoffs," but noting " it's a fine line between winning and losing," at times.
"The series isn't over," he reminded.
Asked if the Terriers were shooting too much from the perimetre Monday, Cassan said it was more of a case of trying too hard at times.
"We were winding up almost too much," he said. " Some of the shots, the scoring opportunities, we were almost tying ourselves up."
At the same time, Cassan said taking as many shots as the Terriers did it eventually "will work out for you" although it didn't happen Monday.
Friday night in the series opener at the FAA the Terriers were led on offence by Giebel with a pair of goals, while Riley Paterson and Brent Struble added singles in the 4-1 win.
Ian McNulty had an unassisted effort to spoil Shymko's shut-out bid. It was the only one of 20-Millionaires' shots to elude the Terrier netminder.
Voth faced 44-shots in the Millionaires nets.
Struble said the Terriers were well-prepared for the series opener.
"We worked hard," he said, adding that went back to a good work ethic instilled over some hard practices in the days leading up to the first game.
" All the hard work and practice crossed over into the game."
The hard work started from the puck drop, and Struble said that is something the Terriers wanted to do too.
"We talked about the first 10-minutes, just trying to keep it simple," he said.
While the Terriers dominated on the shot clock and scoreboard, Struble said that as a player, it didn't feel like they were that much better.
"It felt up and down on the ice at times too," he said.
Coach Cassan said he liked what he saw in the win.
"It was a real solid team effort. There were a lot of second and third efforts tonight," he said.
Cassan said key Terrier players showed why they were key Friday.
"We talked about our leaders needed to be good and they were. They took that game over at times," he said.
Cassan pointed to Paterson's goal as an example. "He went right to the net and took a couple of guys with him," he said.
Cassan said the Terriers had an edge in puck possession, doing the things needed to maintain that control. "We were winning battles and winning face-offs, which are two ways you get puck possession," he said.
Getting the series opening win was of course a big one for the Terriers.
"It's big. You want to protect home ice," said Struble.
Continued on Page A20
Continued from Page A19
Cassan said while the team has to win four to win the series, getting the first one on home ice was a solid start to achieving that.
In Game 2 in Melville on Saturday, it was a topsy turvy affair.
Melville jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Colin Mospanchuk, Alex Elliot and McNulty, before Giebel scored on the powerplay for Yorkton. The teams went to the dressing room after 20-minutes with the home team up 3-1.
Curtis Oliver had two for the Terriers in the second, with Froese responding for the Mills. The score was 4-3 after two periods.
In the third, Mospanchuk used a powerplay goal 3:41 into the frame to give Melville a 5-3 lead, But Struble and Ryon Sookro would score goals 21-seconds apart to tie the game.
The remainder of regulation time would solve nothing, sending the game to overtime, where Michael Desjarlais finally won it for the Millionaires 7:29 into extra time. Shymko took the loss facing 34-shots, while Voth had the win facing 33.
Upcoming
Game 4 of the series goes tonight (Wednesday) in Melville, with game five Friday in Yorkton.
Cassan said he wants his players to have a stronger start Wednesday than in Game 2 in Melville, adding that was the message for Game 3 as well.
Game 6, if required will be Saturday in Melville, with Game 7, again if required, Monday in Yorkton.
For more pictures view Photo Gallery.
