The Yorkton Harvest split games with the Prince Albert Mintos over the weekend at the Farrell Agencies.
Yorkton was dominated by Prince Albert in the first match on Saturday, being outshot 40-13 in the 6-2 loss.
Jason Duret got the Mintos on the board first with a power-play marker roughly eight minutes into the game.
Harvest's Dakota Odgers quickly responded, though, tying the game up at one less than two minutes later.
The Mintos took over the game in the second period. Eric Young, Kylar Hope, and Adam Osczevski hit the goal light to give Prince Albert a commanding 4-1 lead.
Logan Herchak put the Harvest within two in the latter half of the period. But Mintos' Lance Yaremchuk regained Prince Albert's three-goal lead with less than four minutes left in the second.
Tye Antoniuk closed out the game with a power-play goal in the last five minutes of the third.
Despite letting six goals get past him, Harvest goaltender Spencer Bomboir had a great game, turning away 34 of 40 shots. The score would have been even more lopsided if it wasn't for Bomboir's impressive play.
"He kept us in there and gave us a chance in the first period," says Harvest head coach Jeff Odgers on Bomboir stopping 12 of 13 shots in the first.
Odgers believes giving the Mintos six power plays sealed his team's fate of coming up short in the win department.
The first period went alright, but then we got into penalty trouble," says the head coach. "Anytime you get into penalty trouble against a team that can move the puck like Prince Albert, you are in trouble. That was the difference."
The Harvest rebounded in their second game, coming away with a 3-2 victory on Sunday.
Leading goal-scorer Lynden Pastachak scored the first goal of the contest, giving Yorkton a one-goal lead with eight minutes left in the period.
The Mintos' Lochlan Morrison shot down the Harvest's momentum, notching his fourth of the year in the last minute of the opening period.
Prince Albert grabbed the lead in the second with a power-play marker from Adam Osczevski.
Chase McKersie shifted the momentum back in favour of Yorkton by notching his fifth of the year on the man advantage early in the third to tie up the game at two.
Rookie defenceman Ethan Bear scored Yorkton's game-winning goal late in the third with a slap shot from the point.
"When Ethan gets a lane, he usually gets it through," says Odgers. "He has a great shot."
For the second consecutive night, the Harvest had great goaltending. This time Carson Bogdan stood tall in the blue paint, stopping 26 of 28 shots.
"He was huge," says Odgers on Bogdan. "He held us in there. On second chances, he made key saves."
A handful of the Harvest's depth players stepped up in the game after Pastachak left the contest in the second after blocking a shot and team captain Nicholas Pouliot left in the third after being hit from behind.
"We only had like nine forwards in the third period," says Odgers. "We were gassed, but a lot of guys stepped up for us. It took a good effort from our guys. They hung in there and battled. We had a third period where we made some plays and blocked some shots. They did little things to step up."
Taking two-out-of-four points from the 18-5-2-0 Mintos put a smile on Odgers' face.
"It feels good," says Odgers. "Realistically, heading into the weekend that's what you would hope for. Prince Albert is a team that's the class of the league. They proved it yesterday by beating us 6-2. Every mistake you make they make you pay for it."
With the win, the 9-13-2-2 Harvest jumped into the playoff picture. But with the Saskatoon Blazers beating the Beardy's Blackhawks 4-1 later on Sunday, Yorkton's time in the top eight was short lived. The 9-9-4-1 Blazers quickly bumped them back down to ninth spot in the Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League standings.
Before their Christmas break, Yorkton has a huge game against the Notre Dame Argos on Tuesday December 18 in Wilcox. A win could leapfrog the Harvest over the Blazers and put them one-point back of the Argos. On the flip side, a loss would give the Argos a five-point lead on the Harvest and give the Blazers ample opportunity to run away with the final playoff spot.
"It's huge," says Odgers on the Argos game. "The Argos is a team we've been trying to catch in the standings. We have had them in our sights for a while. I hope that they want to get home for Christmas worse than we do and we can take advantage of it. We haven't had the best luck in Notre Dame. That's part of the reason why we are where we are in the standings."
