Dawson Atamanchuk needed just 1:47 into the first period to score on his former team, and when he did teddy bears rained onto the ice at Crescent Point Place. The goal would be the first of five, as the Weyburn Red Wings beat the Humboldt Broncos 5-2 Friday night. The win moves the Red Wings into sole possession of first on the Viterra Division, and are two points back of the Melfort Mustangs for first overall.

“I don’t know. There was definitely a lot of emotions going through there,” Atamanchuk said after the game when asked to describe the goal. The marker was his fifth of the year and was assisted by Landon Walters and Will Cruise.

The Red Wings would jump out to early leads twice in the first period, but the Broncos replied shortly after, just 11 seconds for the first goal, scored by Logan Hunter, and then, when Weyburn regained the lead on a goal by Ben Hiltz before the period was ten minutes old, Logan Boulet scored for Humboldt 18 seconds later.

In the second period, Weyburn would jump out to the lead for good, when a point shot from Erik Olson beat Humboldt goalie Jacob Wasserman for his tenth of the year. The power play marker was assisted by Ty Brown and Hiltz.

Weyburn would then extend the lead further into the third. Jordan Kazymyra scored his ninth of the year, as Walters picked up his second helper of the game, and Jeremy Velazquez was also credited with an assist.

With just over two minutes left in the third, Broncos forward Brayden Camrud picked up a slashing minor, taking away momentum from the Broncos as they tried to beat Arik Weersink to close the gap. On the ensuing power play, scored his fourth of the year, assisted by Cade Kowalski and Mike Eskra.

The Red Wings have now picked up three wins in a row and will be taking on the Battlefords North Stars. The two teams met last Saturday, with Weyburn picking up a 1-0 road win. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. at Crescent Point Place.