It was a dramatic and exciting first week of the regular season for the Yorkton Harvest.
Coming off of a 6-5 overtime lost in Regina to the Pat Canadians; the Harvest played their home opener, Saturday, against the Battlefords Stars.
Only one goal was registered in the first period as Yorkton's John Odgers opened the scoring from Tanner LeSann and Adam McCannell on the powerplay.
The Stars bounced back in the second period with two goals of their own, giving way to what would be a wild final frame.
After the Harvest's Denin Boesch tied the game up at two's, on another powerplay, Battlefords' Justin Lund and Colby Cave scored to push the deficit back to two.
With under three minutes left, the game looked to be lost as John Odgers took a slashing penalty to put the Harvest shorthanded.
Down two and shorthanded, the Harvest needed a miracle. Fortunately, the penalty killers were happy to oblige.
Kade Halabuza converted a shorthanded chance for Yorkton, just seconds into the penalty, to make it 4-3.
Then, with Odgers still in the box, Ben Johnstone scored the Harvest's second shorthanded goal with just under two minutes to go in regulation.
Roddy Sewap and Devan Fafard provided the assist on the most unlikely of tying goals, as Battlefords' managed to surrendering two scores while on the same man-advantage.
The game remained scoreless in the final minute and through overtime to finish in a 4-4 tie, certainly a moral victory for the upstart Harvest.
While the way they achieved the tie was unique, the late-game heroics were nothing new for Yorkton.
Though they lost 6-5 to Regina earlier in the week, Yorkton was down 5-1 in the third period of that game before recording four goals to force the extra session.
"We want to be a team that has a no-quit attitude. We've been down late here a couple times and scored late goals," Coach Grahame Garrett says, "That shows a lot of character and a lot of heart in the players and that's going to carry us through a lot of the other things that we're going through right now."
The Cornerstone Credit Union Game Stars were awarded to Yorkton's Denin Boesch and Battlefords Dylan Fluter for their efforts. As a reward, both players were presented with a complimentary skate mat from the Cornerstone Credit Union.
The Harvest powerplay managed to go two-for-seven in the game while Battlefords were scoreless in their six opportunities.
Kale Thomson was credited with the tie in net for Yorkton. The Harvest starter made 23 saves on 27 shots for the game.
After such a thrilling game, the Harvest were eager to carry momentum into the next matchup with the Stars; which would take place the next day (Sunday) at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
While momentum rarely transfers from game to game, the Harvest flew out of the gate and jumped out to 3-0 lead in the first period.
Dustin Minto and John Odgers provided unassisted markers for Yorkton while Levi Cable also pitched in, with assists from Denin Boesch and Devan Fafard.
The Stars rebounded with one of their own but could not close the deficit any further heading into the first intermission.
After Yorkton's Tanner LeSann and Battlefords Jesse Gerbig traded goals in the second period, the Harvest took their two goal lead into the final frame. The second period, despite only one goal, was dominated by the Harvest, as they registered twelve shots on goal to only three for the Stars.
The third was more of the same for Yorkton, as two goals from Dustin Skiliter and Adam McCannell put the game away. Battlefords Gerbig would put one past goaltender Spencer Bomboir but it wouldn't be enough as the Harvest claimed a 6-3 victory.
Levi Cable was named the Cornerstone Credit Union first star for his three point performance.
Bomboir picked up the win in net for Yorkton, stopping 22 of 25 shots.
Coach Garrett was complimentary of his team's performance in victory.
"I think that every game that we're playing, we're getting better. We're starting to understand how we want to play as a team."
After showing flashes in the third period on Saturday, the final two periods were dominated by the Harvest in Sunday's victory. That effort did not go unnoticed by Garrett.
"I thought, especially today, in the second and third period we were able to get pucks deep. We were able to win the forechecking battle," he recalls.
The next home game for the Harvest will be this Thursday versus the Saskatoon Contacts at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
