It was a sloppy game from both sides, but it was the Yorkton Terriers who sent their fans home happy with a 5–3 win in their home opener. The Terriers rallied and scored three times in the final 10 minutes to erase a deficit and win their first game of the year.

A wild start to the game saw Ben Solomon scoop up a turnover and go in a breakaway on Riley Lamb where he beat him short side over the blocker to open the scoring just 46 seconds in. It was the first shot of the game for the Terriers. Fifteen seconds after that, Dylan McCabe would step across the red line and fire a puck on goal that handcuffed Laidlaw and beat him glove side. A couple of strange bounces later, it was a tie game at one apiece just 61 seconds in.

The teams would settle in and play a relatively slow going first period that saw plenty of whistles and a lot of miscues. Both teams were misfiring passes wide or into skates and neither side was able to establish much of any offence. However, with 14 seconds to go in the opening frame, Jake Mulder would be Johnny-on-the-spot after a Ben Hiltz miss banked off the boards and right out in front. Mulder would make no mistake for his first career SJHL goal and fire it into the open cage to give the Red Wings a 2–1 lead after 20 minutes.

Fast-forward to the middle of the second period and another youngster would score a milestone goal. Jacob Piller was playing in his first game with the Red Wings after being signed nine days ago. He would bang home a rebound in front on the power play to give the Wings a 3–1 lead.

Less than a minute later, Branden Klatt would beat Lamb on a beautiful redirection in tight. The sweet feed came courtesy of Aiden Bulych who played a terrific game. The teams would trade some chances late, but both netminders found their groove and made numerous tough stops to keep the game at 3–2 after two periods.

Weyburn pressed hard for the insurance goal, but it was Laidlaw who stood tall in the blue paint and kept it a one-goal hockey game. At the other end of the ice, Lamb was knocked into his net and forced to leave the game around the seven-minute mark of the final period. Cody Levesque entered the game and was charged with the tough task of holding off a Terriers surge for the equalizer, with no warm-up shots or stretches.

It seemed from that moment on it was all Terriers as they tied things up with 10 minutes to go on a perfect backdoor pass that was finished off by Tyson Janzen. Less than four minutes later, Kishaun Gervais would benefit off of a terrible Red Wings giveaway in their own zone. He picked up a fanned clearing attempt and walked in all alone on Levesque and beat him over the blocker.

Trailing for the first time in the game at 4–3, the Red Wings pushed for a tying goal but to no avail. Laidlaw made a couple good stops late and Bulych put the final nail in the coffin with an empty net goal with 35 seconds remaining.

It wasn’t the outcome the Red Wings were looking for in their first road game of the season. They’ll have a short turnaround to get things back on track, as it’s off to Warman on Monday morning for the annual SJHL showcase. They’ll take on the La Ronge Ice Wolves at 4 p.m. on Monday.

Check back with Discover Weyburn and follow @AustinArvay on Twitter for updates throughout the showcase.