The Yorkton Terriers took a pair of games from their Highway 10 rivals the Melville Millionaires on the weekend boosting them into a tie for top spot in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Sherwood Conference.
The Terriers sit with a record of 17-7-0-1 and 35 points. Notre Dame has an identical 35-points thanks to a 10-0-0-1 streak.
Melville sits third in the Sherwood with 30-points, Kindersley is fourth with 19-points, Estevan has 18 and Weyburn resides in the basement with only 14-points.
Friday night the teams faced off in Melville with the host Millionaires taking a 2-0 lead through the opening 20-minutes on goals by Daniel Orsborn and Allan Kilback.
In the second frame Tayler Thompson and John Odgers would score unanswered goals for the Terriers to knot the score 2-2 after 40-minutes.
Chase Norrish would score the deciding goal for Yorkton mid-way through the third period on the powerplay.
Kale Thomson backstopped the Terriers to the win, turning away 19-of-21 shots he faced in goal.
Alex Wakaluk faced 36 shots in the loss for Melville.
A night later at the Farrell Agencies Arena it would be another one-goal outcome.
Tyler Giebel would score the only goal of the first period giving the Terriers a 1-0 lead.
Christian Magnus knotted the game scoring the only goal of the second period.
The third period would be a scoreless one, as would the five-minute, four-on-four overtime, leaving the game's outcome to the shoot-out.
Derek Falloon and Tyler Giebel both scored on the shoot-out for Yorkton, while Thomson stymied both Millionaire shooters for the win.
Thomson had faced 42-shots in the game, while Wakaluk saw 40.
Falloon said they felt the push-back pressure from the Millionaires in the second, but managed to allow only on goal.
"We just kept going," he said.
When the game went to overtime, coincidental minors to end the game left the teams playing three-on-three to start the extra frame.
"There was a lot of room out there," said Falloon, adding he "loves a lot of room," so that he can best utilize his speed.
But with only three players per team, and neither team willing to send the third man deep, the room did not lead to a goal.
Terrier head coach Trent Cassan said three-on-three is simply not something they work on a lot, so it was a case of trying a couple of things, like going with two defence on one shift, and only one on the next, but it was generally hard to get any sustained pressure.
"It's not something you really practice very often," he said.
In the shoot-out Falloon went to centre ice first for the Terriers. He said he's been doing well in the role of shoot-out sniper.
"I'm 100 per cent," he said with a smile.
When asked about Falloon's success Cassan said with a grin his 100 per cent streak was not something that should be talked about.
"He's been very good," added the Terrier head coach.
So what is Falloon's secret?
"I have a move," he said, but added Saturday he did not use it as Wakaluk had seen it in a previous game this season.
"He knew I liked going low blocker," he said, adding he changed things up to keep the Millionaire goaltender off balance.
The two wins by Thomson in the Terrier nets came on the heels of earning league Goaltender of the Week honours. He said the league nod "felt good," since he had not "got that award last year."
As for the weekend wins over Melville, Thomson said the Millionaires came on hard in the second in Yorkton.
"The guys blocked lots of shots," he said. "I was able to make a few saves."'
In the shoot-out Thomson said he was glad to see Falloon score first.
"It kind of takes the pressure off a little bit," he said, adding if he makes the first save, which he did, the pressure goes squarely on the opposition.
Cassan said the two games were hard fought affairs. He said both games were tight "from start -to-finish.
"It was a typical game. Yorkton-Melville is always going to be tight."
Cassan said the Millionaires showed their resiliency, being short a couple of key players, losing on their home ice and being down Saturday, but then rallying in the second period.
"They came into our rink and dug-in pretty hard," he said.
Cassan said Thomson played well through both games, adding you need that at times in a game "when you're back on your heels," adding there are times when play goes against you in the natural "ebb and flow" of a game.
Thomson's steady play extended to the shoot-out, where Cassan said "the goaltender is the biggest player," in terms of a team's success.
The two wins extended the Terrier's current streak to five straight wins. Cassan said the steak is great, but he is just happy to see the team being consistent, adding they talk about how they "don't want to lose on consecutive nights," noting in the playoffs that is important.
In the five wins Cassan said the biggest positive is how different players have stepped up.
"We're getting contributions from different guys," he said.
Up next
The Terriers were scheduled to host Estevan Tuesday, but results were not available at press time.
Thursday Battlefords visits the Farrell Agencies Arena.
Sunday the Terriers head to Humboldt for action.
