The Estevan Bruins dusted themselves off after a disastrous road trip and earned two important wins on the weekend in their last action before the Christmas break.
Tyler Paslawski took a stretch pass from Austin Yano at 2:08 of overtime and scored five-hole on the breakaway to give the Bruins a 4-3 win over the Melfort Mustangs on Saturday.
The goal completed the Bruins' second comeback of the weekend. One night earlier, they scored three times in the third period to topple the Notre Dame Hounds 7-5 in a neutral-site game in Assiniboia.
The Bruins (20-18-0-1) enter the break in second place, one point ahead of Yorkton and four ahead of Melville, with both teams having four games in hand.
Paslawski acknowledged that he's gotten off to a slow start in Estevan and said he's happy his first goal at Spectra Place was an important one.
"Melfort had a bad change there and it was a great opportunity to capitalize on. I had a chance earlier in the period, the guys were kind of harping on me (that the) five-hole's wide open, so I kind of blacked out and that's all I was thinking was five-hole," he said. "(Yano's pass) was perfect. Right on the tape. You can't score goals without that set-up pass."
Added Bruins head coach Keith Cassidy: "He was pretty wide open. I don't think there was anybody on the ice (Yano) could have passed to other than him. Everybody was going for a change. I guess I'm pretty impressed that it went tape-to-tape."
Saturday's game was mostly a snoozer until Dylan Smith scored his second of the night with 26 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
"It was very definitely a 'last game before Christmas' type of feel out there. It was like we were trying to lull each other to sleep at some points," said Cassidy. "But there were some good efforts out there. There were some positive things."
The Mustangs had taken a 3-2 lead with three minutes left when Matt Saunderson's low point shot got through traffic and past Bruins goalie Steven Glass.
Brendan Tash struck first for Melfort eight minutes into the first period with a power play goal and that lead stood until the intermission.
Less than four minutes into the second though, Smith tied it by tapping the puck past a scrambling Jesse Wilkins.
Only 64 seconds after that, Landon Belchamber beat Glass from the slot to regain the lead for the Mustangs.
At the 13-minute mark, Josh Jelinski took a centring pass from Smith and was stopped by Wilkins, but he lunged for the rebound and knocked it in to knot the score 2-2.
Cassidy felt his team, which carried the shots 37-24, shouldn't have needed overtime to get the win.
"We were snakebitten at times and we probably should have been rewarded on a couple of other plays. It was ugly, but we found a way to win."
On Friday, the Bruins trailed 5-4 after 40 minutes but scored two goals early in the third to take the lead for good.
Derek Whitehill and Tyler Kauk had the third-period markers, with Taylor Reich adding an empty-netter.
Smith scored twice for the Bruins, with Dominic Perrault and Cole Olson notching the other goals.
Brandon Millin and Ben Morgan paced the Hounds with two goals apiece and Dayton Shaw also tallied.
"That was a character-builder for us out there. If we take away that first period and the quick goals there, I think we dominated the game, basically," said Cassidy. "Having to come back is important as well. Every little thing we can take to build confidence, I'm looking for."
Calder Neufeld was a healthy scratch for both games.
"We sat down and had a chat the other day and he knows why he is where he is," said Cassidy. "He's handled it very well. I'm very impressed with him and he'll be back in the lineup in short order."
Tanner Froese missed Saturday's game serving a one-game suspension stemming from a hit in a Dec. 11 game in Nipawin.
Cassidy said the break comes at a good time for a club that has struggled for much of the last six weeks.
"The ups and downs that we've had, the confidence is real fragile and this break is going to do wonders for us.
"I think if you'd have asked me at the beginning of the year if I'd be satisfied with the record we have right now, I probably would have taken that. I'm a little disheartened because I think we've let some games slip away that we should have won," he said.
The Bruins' next action is Jan. 1 against the Weyburn Red Wings at 3 p.m. at Spectra Place. It will be preceded by the annual alumni game between the two teams at 1 p.m.
