It wasn’t pretty, but the Moose Jaw Warriors went into the Christmas break on a high note with a 4-3 overtime win over the Regina Pats at the Brandt Centre.

The Warriors were outplayed for the majority of the game, but goalie Zach Sawchenko made some key saves throughout the first and second period, and finished with 41 shots to backstop his team to the comeback win.

Moose Jaw trailed 2-1 after the first period despite Regina controlling much of the play.  

Colby Williams opened the scoring with a shot that went off a player in front just 5:10 into the game.  Taylor Cooper finished off a nice passing play at the side of the net to put the Pats in front by two just past the midway point of the first.

The Warriors got in the board with 2:41 to go in the frame as Ryan Bowen found the back of the net for his fourth of the season.

The Pats continued to outplay the Warriors in the second period and they went in front when Austin Wagner blasted a long shot past Sawchenko with 5:13 to go in the second.

That goal came just 30 seconds after Sawchenko had stopped Wagner on a penalty shot opportunity.

Needing a spark coming into the third period, the Warriors found it when Tristan Langan scored his first WHL goal to pull Moose Jaw within one just 1:58 into the frame.

The Warriors continued to pressure as the third period went on and with a power play just past the midway point of the frame, Bowen took a pass, drove down the wing and found a way to sneak the puck through the legs of Tyler Brown to tie the game.

With the comeback complete, the Warriors held on going into overtime and then used a two-defencemen attack during the extra frame and waited for their opportunity.

It came with Marc McNulty at the end of a long shift controlling the puck behind the net, his centring shot from below the goal line went off a stick and threw the legs of Brown to give the Warriors the win.

Bowen finished with two goals and Jesse Shynkaruk had three assists to pace the win.

Moose Jaw was 1-for-4 on the power play and had some key penalty kills, going 4-for-4.

The win was big in the standings as well with the Warriors now sitting four points clear of the Pats going into the break.  Moose Jaw returns to the ice on Sunday, Dec. 27 in Swift Current.  Western Nissan Warriors Hockey returns to the air with the Pre-Game Show at 3:40pm from the Credit Union Iplex.