The Battlefords North Stars have to win tomorrow night.
Should they lose, the Estevan Bruins will end their season.
The North Stars split the opening two games of the survivor series at home against the Bruins, before heading to Estevan for games three and four.
Monday, the North Stars had a 2-1 lead after the first period.
Nick Fountain scored his third goal in as many games six minutes into the game to open the scoring. Matt Saharchuk and Connor Vermeulen picked up the assists.
Vermeulen, a defenceman, was used as a forward for games three and four, due to injures to Reed Delainey, Matt Havens and Brady O’Sullivan.
Jake Erickson and Brock Weston were also unavailable, so affiliate players Cody Spagrud and Levi Kleiboer drew into the lineup.
Nearly 10 minutes after Fountain’s goal, Igor Leonenko scored from Jordan Townsend and Michael Statchuk on the power play to double the North Stars lead.
Two minutes later, the Bruins got on the board when Jason Duret beat Spencer Tremblay from Nolan Nicholas and Ryan Duret.
It didn’t take long for the Bruins to tie the game in the second.
Forty-five seconds into the frame, Nicholas fooled Tremblay on a long wrist shot. Bruins goalie Tyler Fuhr picked up the only assist.
Late in the period the Bruins scored twice in 1:16, and the North Stars found themselves in a two-goal deficit heading into the final period.
Lynnden Pastachak from Keegan Allison and Wyatt Garagan from Charles Manley and Josh Reiger were the late Bruins’ goals.
Like game one, the road team was down by two after two periods.
And like game one, the road team came storming back.
Jake McMillen got the comeback started when he scored short-handed on a penalty shot just over a minute into the third.
Exactly six minutes later, Kendall Fransoo scored from Leonenko and Saharchuk to tie the game at four.
Fransoo has two career playoff goals and one career regular season goal, all coming against the Estevan Bruins.
The game stayed tied until late in the period when 17-year-old Bryce Hall scored from McMillen and Brendan Heinrich with just over four minutes remaining in the game.
After allowing three goals in the second, Tremblay shut the door as the North Stars took a 2-1 series lead with a 5-4 win.
Head coach Kevin Hasselberg said that comeback was one of his proudest moments during his time with the North Stars.
Looking to advance to the opening round, the North Stars jumped out to an early lead in game four Tuesday.
Leonenko, in his third consecutive game with a goal, gave the North Stars a lead 4:27 into the game on the power play. Saharchuk got the lone assist.
The Bruins answered with a power-play goal of their own nearly 10 minutes later when Taylor Ross scored from Jason Duret and Kurt Sonne to tie the game.
The score, and shots, were tied after the first period.
In the second, it was the Bruins getting on the board first when Zach Douglas scored from Nicholas to give the Bruins their first lead of the night.
Saharchuk responded, scoring an unassisted power-play goal seven minutes later to tie the game.
In the third, it was the Bruins striking first again.
A point shot from Manley deflected off something in front of Tremblay and got past him with 8:30 remaining to give the Bruins a lead they would hold onto for good. Pastachak got the only assist on the game-winning goal.
After spending Tuesday night in Estevan, the North Stars headed home to prepare for what could be the final game of their season.
The North Stars haven’t played a do-or-die game since March 13, 2012 when Roger Tagoona scored one minute into overtime in game seven against the Nipawin Hawks.
Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.
