The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings returned to action for the first time since October 28th Wednesday night, as they played the first of five games away from Crescent Point Place in Kindersley. The Wings wouldn't hold the lead until it mattered most - at the end of the game as Elijah Anderson potted his fifth of the year in overtime to lift Weyburn to a 3-2 victory. With the win, Weyburn is now back atop the Viterra Division, one point up on the Melville Millionaires.
The Wings came out a little slow, thanks to a delay en route to Kindersley due to a highway closure near Chamberlain. In all, the team had spent seven hours on the bus before they even made it to the West Central Events Centre for the game.
"Our guys took it as a challenge, that it was going to be some adversity we had to overcome," head coach Cody Mapes said after the game. "At the end of the day, our goaltending was very, very good again tonight. We found ways to block shots and scramble when we needed to scramble."
The Klippers would get the first goal of the game just past the halfway mark of the first period when Nathan DeGraves scored his first of the season with 8:53 left on the clock. Weyburn would work to try to even things up, but ran into penalty trouble in the period, and would need to wait until the second to get on the board.
The Red Wings evened things up with 9:42 to go in the middle frame when Lucas Jeffreys dumped the puck into the Klippers zone. It would ricochet off the end boards, right onto the stick of Jerome Maharaj. He would bulge the twine behind Cody Jaman with his eighth of the campaign. Along with Jeffreys, Nolan Henderson was credited with an assist.
Kindersley regained the lead early in the third when Keenan Ingram scored just 34 seconds in to make it 2-1. The Red Wings, though, weren't going to give up.
With the man advantage with 7:03 to go in the period, Jaxon Ruthven whipped the puck towards the Klippers net. It would deflect off of the skate of Jacob Visentini and in, evening the score at 2-2. The power play goal was the fourth of the year for Visentini, and with the assist, Ruthven now has a four-game point streak, picking up 10 points in that stretch.
The game would go to overtime, where the Red Wings would have a great opportunity as Elijah Anderson and Blake Betson came in on a 2-0. Anderson passed the puck over to Betson, but his stick would shatter when going for the shot.
"If it wasn't for a faulty stick, that game's over a lot earlier," Mapes said during the post-game show. It would be too long after that missed opportunity, though, that Weyburn would get another chance.
Anderson was sprung free on a breakaway in the extra period, and he would make good on the opportunity. He fired home the game-winner, his fifth goal of the season, to give the Red Wings the victory. Max Monette had an assist on the goal.
The Red Wings will now get a day of practice and travel, before getting ready to take on the Battlefords North Stars Friday and Saturday night to continue their road swing. You will be able to catch all the action on Great Plains Ford Red Wings Radio BIG 106 on both nights.