The Yorkton Terriers won two games this week, and saw a third Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League encounter postponement Sunday due to weather conditions.
The Terries sit atop the Sherwood Conference with a record of 19-7-0-1 for 39 points, four up on Notre Dame with 35, and five points better than Melville with 34.
Kindersley sits fourth with 20, Estevan follows with 18, while Weyburn sits last with 16.
The Battlefords North Stars rolled into Yorkton for a rare Thursday evening game last week.
Nathan Murray gave the home team a lead 1:10 into the opening frame, but Braeden Johnson tied the score later in the frame with his first of the campaign for the Stars.
The second period was a scoreless affair.
In the third Brody Luhning used the powerplay to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.
It would stay a one-goal Battlefords lead until 17:49 of the frame when John Neibrandt scored his first of the season to tie the game.
The game would go to overtime where Derek Falloon would notch a powerplay goal 2:45 into the four-on-four extra frame for the Terrier win.
Dawson MacAuley was in the Yorkton net facing 22-shots in the win.
Connor Creech took the loss as the Stars netminder facing 28-shots.
Curtis Oliver was the game's first star.
The Terrier forward said being picked "feels pretty good," adding "I've had a kind of slow start to the year."
The game was one which at times seemed to have a slow pace, one Oliver said was hard to get into the flow.
"We kind of had to make our own energy," he said.
Neibrandt said the Stars made it hard to get a flow going.
"They played a trap," he said, adding it was hard to get an offence working against that pressure.
Getting an early goal helped the Terriers, said Neibrandt.
Terrier head coach Trent Cassan agreed it was a tight checking affair.
"There wasn't much space out there," adding Battlefords played a good road game to keep it close.
As for the Stars second goal Cassan said MacAuley had made a solid save, but a second shot eluded him after a defensive miscue. He added the Terriers ramped it up late to make sure the mistake was not the difference in the game.
When the Terriers did get down in the third Oliver said they remained confident.
"We knew as a team we should have had a couple more in," he said, adding they had time to mount the effort for the tying goal.
Neibrandt said right now the Terriers are a confident hockey team in the dressing room, on the bench and on the ice, so they believed they could tie the game late.
As for getting the tying goal Neibrandt said "I don't really score too many goals," but with a scramble in front "the puck was just laying there."
Neibrandt said he knew the goaltender was down and he just shot the puck with the idea of going high, and it worked. "It helped to get it up."
Cassan said Neibrandt is a defenceman "who does a lot of things responsibility," adding getting a goal out of the tall rearguard is a bonus.
Last Tuesday
Estevan were at the Farrell Agencies Arena Nov. 27, with the host Terriers enjoying 1-0 and 3-0 period leads on their way to a 4-1 win.
Zak Makowski scored on the Terrier powerplay in the first period, with Patrick Martens and Tyler Giebel adding second period markers. Giebel's goal was also with a man advantage.
In the third Cole Olson finally solved Kale Thomson in the Terrier nets with the only Bruin shot among 28 to elude the Terrier netminder.
Martens would add an empty-netter for the Terriers to complete the victory.
Curtis Martinu was in the Bruins' net facing 35 shots in the loss.
Up next
Friday and Sunday the Kindersley Klippers will be at the Farrell Agencies Arena to take on the Terriers.
Next Tuesday (Dec. 11), Yorkton will play in Estevan.
