Liam Fitzpatrick had the game-winner, as the Moose Jaw WINMAR AAA Warriors score four answered goals to take down the Estevan Bears 5-4 in overtime and earn their 10th win of the season to end 2022.

“We showed some resilience in the second and third periods,” says Warriors head coach Trevor Weisgerber. “We got into quite a bit of penalty trouble in the second, we had a couple of 5-on-3’s that  the guys killed and they did a great job of blocking shots and getting pucks downs and that got us a lot of momentum.”

The Warriors were able to control the momentum after two second-period 5-on-3 penalty kills and scored three straight goals in the frame to tie the game at 4-4.

Liam Fitzpatrick had a pair of goals in the win, while Grady Hoffman, Rhett Perrin, and Bryce Boughen also found the back of the net.

Moose Jaw moves back in eighth place in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League standings over the Yorkton Maulers and improves to 10-13-0-3 for 23 points on the season. They now trail the Warman Wildcats by one point for seventh place.

Ryan Hicks stopped 17 of 18 shots he faced this afternoon in relief for Ryan Bain who was pulled in the second period and made nine saves in 24 minutes of action.

For the second game in a row the Warriors came out flat-footed and the Bears took advantage of a slow Moose Jaw start.

It only took Estevan 1:04 into the game to find the back of the net. A shot from the left point by Colton Pushie was tipped in front by Josh Heistad and found its way past Bain for the 1-0 lead.

Late in the first period, the Bears would capitalize on the powerplay. Moose Jaw would turn the puck over in their own end right to Kole Keen who cut to the net all alone and put it upstairs on a sprawled Bain to make it 2-0.

The Warriors found themselves down 2-0 after 20 minutes with Estevan having the edge in shots 10-9.

In the second period, a total of five goals were scored in what was the turning point in the hockey game.

Early in the second frame, the Warriors would get their first powerplay of the game. Grady Hoffman would get a pass from the corner and fire it under the glove and over the pad of Bears goalie Kayden Perron to cut the lead in half at 2-1. Ryder Knutson picked up the lone assist on the goal.

Almost two minutes later, Blaze Gutzke would restore the Bears two-goal advantage as he was given space on the right wing and picked a corner over the shoulder of Bain to make it 3-1. Bain’s night was done, and Ryan Hicks came into the game in relief.

Three minutes and fifty seconds later Teigen Semchyshen would pick up a powerplay goal, as a shot from the high slot would go post-to-post and then trickle in to make it 4-1.

With 11:53 left in the second period, it looked as if the Bears were going to sweep the weekend series. The Warriors had other plans though, as the comeback was on.

It all started with Liam Fitzpatrick who got the scoring started for the Warriors after he roofed it on Perron to make it 4-2.

A minute later Bryce Boughen got the puck into the front of the net after some great puck work by Rhett Perrin and jammed it past the left pad of Perron and just like that it was 4-3 Estevan.

Rhett Perrin would finish off Moose Jaw’s three unanswered goals in the period after he fired a missile to find twine and tie the game at 4-4.

Moose Jaw was down in shots after 40 minutes 21-18.

Though both teams had chances, neither was able to find the back of the net in the third period and overtime was needed.

To start overtime, two breakaways were had by either team, but both Hicks and Perron stood tall and kept the game at 4-4.

That all changed halfway through overtime, as Liam Fitzpatrick blew past the Bears defender and cut to the front of the net, and roofed it over the glove of Perron for the 5-4 overtime winner and his second of the afternoon.

The final shot total was 32-30 for Moose Jaw.

Moose Jaw will get some much-needed time off for the Christmas holidays and then will be back on the ice on Jan. 4 when they welcome the Warman Wildcats to the Moose Jaw Events Centre at 8:00 p.m.