The CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins survived a bizarre incident involving their starting goalie and a third period meltdown to earn two points in a roller coaster affair on Saturday.
Nick Weiss scored the shootout winner to give the Bruins a 5-4 victory over the Nipawin Hawks.
The Bruins led 3-0 after two periods, but an incident at the start of the third period helped turn the tides and almost saw them walk away with nothing.
Nipawin surged to a 4-3 lead and would have completed the comeback if not for Bruins forward Tyler Paslawski scoring the tying goal shorthanded with three seconds left in regulation.
The drama began as players from both teams were getting loosened up before the third period. It ended with Hawks forward Tad Kozun in the penalty box and Bruins goalie Curtis Martinu out of the game.
"I skated to centre ice. I do my ritual and get myself in the zone there," said Martinu.
"As I was standing there, I could see (Kozun) coming in at decent speed and he just started whacking the back of my legs. I don't want to be known as a hothead, but if you start getting under my skin, then I'm going to stick up for myself, and that's exactly what I did."
Martinu, who was facing away from Kozun, responded by jabbing his stick backward and catching Kozun with a butt end.
Kozun was given a two-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, while Martinu received a five-minute match penalty and a game misconduct.
Both players were suspended for three games on Monday.
Bruins head coach Keith Cassidy said he felt Kozun's actions were part of a tactic by the Hawks.
"That set the tone for the whole period. That's a gimmicky way to do things. It was done on purpose and they ended up getting the situation that they wanted. They got themselves in the game," he said.
Rookie backup Travis Pelletier, seeing his first action since the team's season opener on Sept. 20, came in for the third period and struggled, surrendering four goals in about six minutes, two of them coming on the power play.
Dustin Skilliter scored Nipawin's first goal at 3:51, taking a pass from Yan Kalashnikov and firing it home from the slot. Less than three minutes later, Jeff Datoff scored on a point shot to get the Hawks within a goal.
Dexter Bricker tied the game midway through the period, tipping a Datoff shot past Pelletier. Wheaton King then put Nipawin on top only 14 seconds later.
Although Pelletier allowed four goals on 12 shots, Cassidy said he did well to shut the door after that and give the Bruins a chance to tie it up.
"He'd prefer to have a few of those back, I'm sure, but he settled down and got his mind into it and played pretty well after that."
That paid off later, when Paslawski jammed the puck past Nipawin goalie Davis Jones on a mad scramble in front of the net with three seconds left.
Defenceman Tyler Poskus kept the puck in at the blue line and fired a shot on net, which left Paslawski, Nick Weiss and Darcy DeRoose to hack away at a loose puck in the crease.
"I think DeRoose got the final chop there and it landed on Jones' hip and I chopped it in from there," said Paslawski.
"It's important for us, because it reaffirms that you never quit on anything," Cassidy said of the tying goal. "Anything can happen. There were three seconds left and we were rewarded for some hard work."
After a scoreless overtime, the game went to a shootout. Estevan's Austin Yano and Nipawin's Jesse Bernard traded goals before Weiss scored the winner, flicking a backhand into the top of the net.
Earlier in the game, the Bruins controlled the first two periods and built a 3-0 lead.
DeRoose scored his fifth goal in as many games seven minutes into the opening period on a pass from linemate Hudson Morrison.
The Bruins added a pair of highlight reel goals in the second period.
The first came at the 16-minute mark when Wyatt Garagan was hauled down on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. He waited until the last second and then roofed a backhander over Jones.
"He almost skated himself out of room, but managed to find the last remaining spot top shelf and it certainly helped us," said Cassidy.
Tanner Froese made it 3-0 in the final minute of the period when he stole the puck at the blue line for a breakaway and lifted a backhander into the top right corner.
The Bruins outshot the Hawks 41-27.
"It's an emotional roller coaster, that's for sure, but I'm happy that we're on the positive side of one of these things," said Cassidy. "It's been the other way around a couple of times this year and our guys worked too damn hard not to get the result that we had. It shouldn't have even been a game."
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Bruins struggled to a 6-1 loss against the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox.
Ian Williams, Josh Bruha, Cory Anderson, Jared Martin, Sam Aulie and Catlin Foley scored for the Hounds. Morrison had the lone goal for the Bruins.
On the injury front, forwards Calder Neufeld (high ankle sprain), Taylor Reich (ribs) and Matt Brykaliuk (shoulder), as well as goalie Steven Glass (knee) are still out, while centre Tyson Valette (shoulder) made his Bruins debut Saturday.
Reich was a possibility to return last night against the Hounds. There is no timeline for Neufeld or Brykaliuk to return. Glass is expected to be back in about two weeks.
The Bruins will host the Kindersley Klippers on Friday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
