Ty Mason’s first SJHL goal sparked a third period comeback for the Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings that forced overtime against the Humboldt Broncos Saturday night. The momentum came to a screeching halt, though, when Matthew Perkins scored the game-winning goal with 1:21 left on the clock in overtime, giving Humboldt a 4-3 victory. 

As was the case Friday night, the Red Wings found themselves in penalty troubles at times and gave up key power play goals that appeared to take away any momentum they started to build.  

“Five on five I think we were good, and the first period we were solid, did our job,” said assistant coach Nathan Deck after the game. “Then, in the second period, we got into some penalty trouble, took a few penalties back-to-back, got into a five on three, and they capitalized.” 

The Broncos finished the game going 2-for-4 with the man advantage. Both of those goals came in the second period, where Weyburn took the majority of their penalties. This included a five-minute major to Benji Rutkai for cross-checking.  

The Red Wings opened the scoring in the first period when Shayde Peterson scored his third of the season. The Wings pressured on the power play, and captain Dante Ballarin found the puck on his stick just outside the crease on the right-hand side of Broncos netminder Rayce Ramsey. Ramsey moved over to take away the shot from Ballarin, who spun around, passed the puck across the top of the slot to Peterson for the goal. Also credited with an assist on the marker was Jackson Hassman. 

In the second period, the Broncos replied when the league’s leading scorer, Logan Kurki, redirected the puck past Wings goalie Jackson Fellner just 1:19 into the period. This was followed up by a power play goal from former Weyburn Red Wing Connor McGrath at the 7:41 mark to give the Broncos the lead. Then, a seeing-eye shot from the point by Cody Hough would get into the net with 7:02 on the clock to make it a 3-1 Humboldt lead that put the pressure on the Wings. 

Under that pressure, the Wings responded. It started exactly six minutes into the final regulation period, when Mason wristed the puck past Ramsey to make it 3-2.  

“It was good to see him get that first one, and after that, you could kind of see his confidence go through the roof,” Deck said of the goal and its impact. It sparked a flurry of activity for the Red Wings, and it paid off with another goal less than 90 seconds later. 

Weyburn added their second power play goal of the game when Nik Sombrowski tipped a shot from the point by Graham Skinner past Ramsey at the 7:26 mark of the third. The goal, Sombrowski’s fifth of the campaign, was also assisted by Peterson. 

Over the course of the final 12:34 of the period, both teams traded chances, but the goaltenders stood tall, preventing anything from getting in. This meant the game would go to 3-on-3 overtime. 

In the extra period, the opportunities came and went in both directions, with Fellner and Ramsay able to make the saves as needed, until a broken play and a bad bounce led to a 2-on-0 rush. Perkins saw the puck take the bounce, realized no one from the Red Wings would be able to get it under control, and poked it forward, picking it up and rushed in on Fellner with Logan Kurki. Perkins opted to hold on to the puck himself and shoot on goal, getting the game-winner.  

The Red Wings came away with the one point and remain in third place in the Viterra Division. They will look to close the gap Wednesday night when they host the Melville Millionaires at Crescent Point Place, the first visit to Weyburn for the Mills.