The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the strength of two power-play goals but weren’t able to hold back the Nipawin Hawks in the third period. The Hawks would tie the game in regulation, forcing overtime, where they would score the game-winner with 53 seconds remaining in the extra period.  

Goaltender Dazza Mitchell made his first start of the season, and looked sharp, holding the Hawks off the board until the third period. The number of shots he faced caught up with him, however, as he ended up finishing the game turning aside 35 of the 38 shots. Despite that, the rookie looked sharp in his first SJHL start. 

“I coached him in Bantam for two years and saw the same thing,” Red Wings head coach Cody Mapes said about Mitchell’s performance. “He helped us get to a provincial final at that point. I watched him at PHA, he did a great job there. If he had gotten to play Midget AAA last year, he would have been one of the best goalies in the league last year. That’s why he’s here now.” 

Weyburn would open the scoring on the power play just 4:42 into the second period when Braden Birnie found Shayde Peterson with a clear line of sight in the faceoff circle. Peterson would put the shot into the twine, giving Weyburn a 1-0 lead.  

The second goal for the Wings came just past the halfway mark. Just eight seconds into the power play, Birnie would again set up the goal, this time putting the puck back to Cayde Augustine at the point. His shot went over the glove hand of Nipawin goalie Chase Hamm, giving Weyburn a 2-0 lead. 

The score would hold until the third period when Christian Albertson would score for Nipawin just 44 seconds into the period. Then, Carter Wickenheiser would take a feed across the top of the crease to beat Mitchell with 6:51 on the clock to make it 2-2. 

The Hawks would find themselves with a late power play in regulation, but the Wings managed to kill it off. One of the highlights of the late-game penalty kill came from Birnie, who pinned the puck against the boards in the Hawks' end for a good 15 seconds, with four Hawks trying to dislodge him. Eventually, the play was blown dead after the time had been killed. 

“He might not wear the C on his chest but he’s as much as a leader as anyone else on that team and the young guys look up to him,” Mapes pointed out. “When he does something like that on the penalty kill that doesn’t go on the stat sheet, all the guys make sure he feels the love.” 

In overtime, both teams got some chances, but in the end, it would be Dawson Brace of the Hawks who would score, giving Nipawin the 3-2 victory. 

Penalties proved to be a thorn in the side for the Red Wings in the game, as they gave up eight power-play opportunities. The defence, however, managed to keep the Hawks off the boar with the man advantage. At the other end, Weyburn made good on two of their four opportunities. The goals on the power play came so quickly into the man advantage that while the Hawks received eight minutes worth of penalties, Weyburn only had 4:33 of power-play time, with Peterson's goal coming 25 seconds into the power play, and Augustine’s eight.  

“Power play looked good when we had our opportunities,” said Mapes. “Our penalty kill looked good far too often tonight. You can’t be taking eight penalties against any team, let alone teams that work their tail off; eventually, it's going to bite you.” 

With a record of 1-2-1-0, the Red Wings are now third in the Viterra Division with three points in the early season.  

The Wings will get set for their next game, on the road Friday when they visit the Estevan Bruins. This will be Weyburn’s first trip to Affinity Place, where they picked up a win during the preseason. In the first meeting between the Wings and the Bruins this season, Estevan skated to a 6-3 victory. 

You can catch Friday's game on Red Wing Radio, BIG106 with the pregame starting at 7:15 p.m.