It was a game of the top teams in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Viterra Division as Yorkton played in Estevan Dec. 18.
Johnny Witzke gave the hometown Bruins a 1-0 lead at 2:30 of the first period.
Jared Legien tied the contest at 6:27.
Then on a penalty shot Devan Harrison sent the Bruins to the dressing room after 20-minutes with a 2-1 lead.
Bryce Platt would extend the lead to 3-1, 6:56 into the middle frame, but a powerplay by Legien drew the Terriers to within one through 40-minutes of play.
There was only one goal scored in the third, that at 15:51 by Aiden Bulych to tie the contest 3-3.
The game went to overtime but the five-minute extra frame did not see a goal scored.
Ryan Ouellette in the Terrier net would stop all three in the shoot-out, while Legien found the twine behind Grant Boldt for a 4-3 Yorkton win.
Ouellette faced 30-shots in earning the win, while Boldt took 28 shots in the loss.
By the numbers
The Yorkton Terriers headed to the league Christmas break with a 20-12-1 record and 41 points, and top spot in the Viterra Division. The Terriers are six points up on Estevan with 35, while Melville sits third with 26 points and Weyburn fourth with 23.
The Terriers were 7-3-0 in their last 10 games before the break.
The Terriers winning percentage of .621 is seventh best in the entire league.
To-date the Terriers have scored 138 goals, best in the Viterra by six goals over Melville.
The Terriers were second to Melfort in terms of goals on the season to-date.
Individually, Jared Legien leads the Terriers with 52 points, behind Justin Ball and Carson Albrecht of Melfort with 62 and 55 points respectively as of Dec. 21.
Chantz Petruic and Branden Klatt with 42 and 41 points respectively are in the top-10 for points.
Legien’s 28 goals is also third best behind Ball, and Flin Flon’s Brandson Hein.
Rookie Aiden Bulych’s 27 assists has him tied for fourth in that category. His 36 points overall is top among rookies.
Brendan Mark is the Terrier’s top scoring defenceman with 24 points, tied for fifth among blue liners. Defensively the Terriers have allowed 133 goals, highest in the Viterra.
Nipawin has allowed the fewest goals at 92 as for Dec. 21, with five teams allowing fewer than 100.
Ryan Ouellette has a 3.53 goals against average, 15th in the league. His save percentage of .901 is 14th in the league.
Ben Laidlaw is 18th with a GAA of 4.58, and his save percentage of .868 is also 18th.
Post-Christmas
The Terriers return to action after the seasonal break playing Sunday, Dec. 30, at 2 p.m. at the Farrell Agencies Arena against Melville.
New Year’s Day the teams will meet again at 2 p.m. in Melville.
