Drew Kuzma scored twice, including the game-winner in overtime, as the Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings snapped their eight-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Melville Millionaires Saturday night.  

“We’ve been on a long losing streak and it’s good to get back in the dub column,” Kuzma said after the game.  

Kuzma beat Mills netminder Alexis Giroux with 2:38 left to play in the overtime period to seal the victory, which had the players spilling over the boards to celebrate the first win for the Red Wings since October 15th. 

“Super happy for the guys; they worked hard,” said head coach Cody Mapes. “Last night against Humboldt, again, thought we played well, thought it was a good weekend for us after a tough one on Wednesday, so good to see our guys bounce back and get rewarded tonight.” 

The Red Wings had jumped out to an early lead when captain Braden Birnie scored just 1:48 into the game. The goal snapped a 138-minute goalless streak for Weyburn and gave them a boost of momentum in the period. The opening goal of the game was assisted by Nik Sombrowski. 

With just 2:40 left on the clock in the first, Weyburn added to the lead when Davis Chorney scored his fourth of the season. The goal was assisted by Jackson Ferry, who notched his first point as a Red Wing. 

The tables started to turn in the second.  

Melville got on the board just 23 seconds into the middle period when Nicholas Andrusiak scored his first of the campaign, beating Jackson Fellner with a trickler off the post. The game would be tied up shortly after when Nic Porterfield scored at the 5:51 mark, and the Millionaires took the lead 34 seconds later when Charles-Thomas Larochelle scored. 

The Wings didn’t give up, however. 

Kuzma scored his first goal of the game when a shot from just inside the blue line hit the glove of Giroux, went up over the goalie, and then trickled in behind him to even things up with 6:35 to play in the period. Ethan Whillans had the assist on the goal. 

Weyburn controlled much of the play in the third period, and it would pay off late. During a scramble in the Melville crease, Sombrowski would reach over a sprawled-out Giroux and tap the puck in, giving Weyburn a 4-3 edge. The power play goal was assisted by Chorney and Birnie. 

In the late stages of the game, Weyburn found themselves on the penalty kill, and it would lead to a scramble in their zone with just seconds on the clock. Noah Wills would find the puck on his stick on the right side of Fellner and was able to beat him with eight ticks of the clock to go, making it a 4-4 game and sending it to overtime. 

In the extra frame, though, Kuzma was able to break in down the left wing side, cut in front of the net and beat Giroux to give the Red Wings the victory. 

The Wings will now get set for a matchup with the Yorkton Terriers on Tuesday. The game will be the first trip to Crescent Point Place for Yorkton, who lost 3-2 to the Kindersley Klippers Saturday.