The Nipawin Hawks will not go down without a fight.
One night after suffering an ugly 6-2 loss, the Hawks flipped the script as they rolled to a 5-2 win over the Steinbach Pistons in Game 4 action from the Anavet Cup.
The Hawks’ May 2 win on home ice pulled the two teams into a 2-2 series tie, with game five in Nipawin on May 4.
Brandan Arnold led the way offensively for the Hawks, scoring twice and setting up two others for his second four-point night of the series, while Josh McDougall scored once and added one assist, and Grant Baetsen chipped in with a pair of assists.
Michael Grant and Brett Harasymuk rounded out the scoring for the Hawks, as the 20-year-olds both snapped lengthy goalless droughts, while Declan Hobbs picked up the win in goal, turning aside 25 of the 27 shots he faced.
Darby Gula responded with both Pistons goals while Mark Wilson and Drew Worrad each registered an assist, and Matthew Thiessen was charged with the loss in the Pistons goal.
Thiessen finished the evening allowing five goals on 20 shots, before being lifted in favour of Matthew Radomsky to start the third.
Radomsky turned aside all seven shots he faced.
After digging a large hole in Game 3, the Hawks came out with a much better start in Game 4, and were rewarded for it early, as Arnold scored his fourth of the series just 6:29 into the opening period.
The Hawks extended their lead to two with a late first period marker as Harasymuk added his first of the series, with just 18 seconds to play, snapping a streak of 11 straight games without a goal.
The Hawks quickly made it a three-goal game in the second, as Grant snapped a six game goalless streak with a 5-on-3 power play goal just 1:58 in.
With the Hawks feeling good about themselves, the Pistons fought back.
Gula scored his first of the series on an end-to-end rush beating Hobbs with a wrist shot at 5:55 of period two, and added his second of the period just over three minutes later as the Hawks watched their three-goal cushion quickly shrink to one.
Despite the quick change in momentum, the Hawks did not panic and were eventually rewarded for their persistence as McDougall notched a power play marker at 17:58, and Arnold added his second of the night with a shorthanded strike at 19:48, as the Hawks restored their three-goal lead.
The Hawks then put the game on lock down in the third, allowing ten shots and four power plays but not much in the way of dangerous opportunities, as the home side cruised to a 5-2 win.
After losing the special teams battle in Game 3, the Hawks recoverd in Game 4, as the home side scored twice on six chances, while holding the Pistons to just a 1-for-7 night.
