The CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins' third period demons rose to the surface yet again on Friday, but they managed to salvage two points in the shootout with a 5-4 victory over the Kindersley Klippers.
Austin Daae flipped a wrist shot over Tyrell King's blocker to score the only goal of the shootout and give the Bruins the victory in the sort of topsy-turvy affair they've become all too familiar with lately.
With the Bruins (7-9-2) leading 4-2 after two periods, the Klippers scored two goals in 15 seconds to tie the game with 8:31 to play.
"It was definitely tough to go through that again, but everyone knew what to do, and we got back on track and got the two points," said Bruins centre Cole Olson, who led the team with two goals.
"I thought we had, I don't know the right description for this, but real bad puck luck in the third period," said Bruins head coach Keith Cassidy. "It's unfortunate because in other areas of the game I thought we played really well."
The Klippers (7-9-1-2) opened the scoring at 12:57 of the first period when Kyle Davies walked into the left face-off circle and snapped a shot past Bruins starter Travis Pelletier.
Estevan responded quickly though, with Roger Tagoona getting his first goal as a Bruin on a similar play 31 seconds later.
Olson knocked in a rebound at the 15:42 mark to put the Bruins ahead 2-1, and that score held until the intermission.
The Klippers quickly tied it up in the second. Davies was credited with his second goal of the night only seven seconds in when a pass attempt went off Tyler Kauk's skate and in.
Darcy DeRoose would counter for the Bruins at the 5:46 mark, scoring a power play goal glove side from the slot.
Olson made it 4-2 with only nine seconds left in the period, grabbing the puck after a 2-on-1 was broken up and burying it behind King.
"Cole's not, by trade, a natural goal scorer. He's a hard-working, go to the net kind of player, and now he's getting rewarded," said Cassidy. "He wasn't getting rewarded at the beginning of the year. He hasn't changed his game any, it's just now he's getting rewarded for doing the little things right."
The Bruins still led by two with less than nine minutes left when Kindersley struck twice to tie the game.
Giovanni Bombini put in a Connor Gay rebound on a power play at 11:14, and on the next shift Beau Stewart scored the equalizer.
Pelletier, who would yet emerge as the hero of the evening, said he tried not to let the two goals rattle him.
"Even though the two goals went in in the third, I just wanted to make sure that I was nice and calm, and get over it and just move on," he said.
That paid off later when, with less than 10 seconds to go in the period, defenceman Austin Yano tried to chip the puck in the neutral zone and turned it over, resulting in a 2-on-1 the other way.
Pelletier saved the day with a sensational diving stop to rob the Klippers of a sure game-winning goal with four seconds left.
"My mind was just going crazy. I just had to make sure that I was sticking with the guy at all times and it paid off. I ended up making sure that puck was not crossing the line and it felt great," said Pelletier, who made just his fourth appearance of the season in the midst of a suspension to starter Curtis Martinu.
He said he had been working on the save in practice.
"It was amazing," he said. "I think that's by far one of the top saves I've ever made in my life."
Cassidy said Pelletier shouldn't have had to be in that situation to save the game.
"He made a great save there at the end to preserve the tie. There was a colossally stupid play right before that and he shouldn't have had to bail us out, but he did, I'm glad he did and I'm glad we got the win," he said.
Despite some time spent playing 3-on-3, overtime did not break the tie, and Daae scored in the fourth round of the shootout - the only player from either team to score - to end the game.
"In terms of our mindset on things, I'm not concerned about that because I think we do have the right mindset. The execution on things wasn't fantastic," said Cassidy.
It was a breakout effort for Olson, who has struggled without long-time linemate Calder Neufeld, who remains sidelined with a high ankle sprain.
"Playing with (Tanner) Froese and Daae has been good and it's been working, so hopefully we can keep that going. They both can put the puck in the net and find you when you're open," said Olson.
Taylor Reich (ribs) returned to the lineup Friday while Neufeld, forward Matt Brykaliuk (shoulder) and goalie Steven Glass (knee) remain out.
The Bruins visit the Melville Millionaires on Wednesday before embarking on a weekend trip to the University of North Dakota to watch a pair of hockey games.
