In the waning moments of the third period, it looked like the Estevan Sherritt Coal Bruins and the Swift Current Broncos were headed to a third and deciding game.
But the Bruins tied the game with 2:16 to play and won it with 6.2 seconds on the clock, winning the game and the series.
Mason Strutt scored on a rebound in the dying seconds of the game to give the peewee AA Bruins a 6-5 win in Game 2 on Saturday. The Bruins had won the opener 5-1 on March 3.
"To say it's huge is an understatement. It's one of the many things that makes me so proud of this hockey team. Countless times this year, they've shown that kind of character and it's never shown bigger than in (Saturday's) game," said head coach Jeff Pierson.
"All the kids in the room can be proud of themselves because at the end of the day, they got the job done."
Cole Fonstad had tied it on his second goal of the game with 2:16 remaining on a high glove side shot.
The Bruins got off to a good start in Game 2, taking a 2-0 lead on an early power play goal by Colton Schell and a late marker by J.D. Gervais.
"Those were just hard working, get to the puck and put the puck on net goals," said Pierson.
But Swift Current stormed back in the second period.
Brock Herter tipped a point shot home four minutes into the period to get the Broncos on the board, and Jackson Tonnies scored less than three minutes later on a point shot that went off the post and in.
Aaron Toews scored a power play goal at 8:14 to give the Broncos their first lead.
Pierson said he was impressed that his team didn't give up at that point.
"I use the word character a lot with this hockey team and it's something for them to be really proud of. They don't fold their tent. They keep fighting back and that's what makes a winning hockey club."
Fonstad scored on a rebound at the side of the net at 14:14 on a power play to even the score again.
But the Broncos would retake the lead with just seven seconds left in the period, with Paycen Dawe taking a cross-slot feed and burying it high past Bruins goalie Cody Levesque.
In the third, Carson Benning scored at the 7:45 mark to tie the game 4-4, but the Broncos countered less than three minutes later on a power play goal by Michael Grose.
The score stayed that way until the late goals by Fonstad and Strutt.
The Bruins will face the first-place Yorkton Terriers in the second round of the playoffs. The dates for that series had not been announced at press time.
