It was a much different game than the one played the previous night, but the Weyburn Red Wings came away with a 5–4 overtime win to close out the preseason.

Ben Hiltz scored two goals on two beautifully placed shots and Cole DeKoninck potted the OT winner just 50 seconds into the fourth period. Cody Levesque and Liam McCloskey split time in the crease, with Levesque getting the start making 12 saves and McCloskey stopping 18 shots.

Hiltz opened the scoring just past the midway point of the opening period when he coasted from end to end and ripped a shot past Bruins goaltender Kadin Kilpatrick. Although it’s the only exhibition, Hiltz said it’s nice to see the puck go in.

“It’s a really good feeling out there to get a couple goals and carry some momentum into the season,” he said. “It was good to get a win with the boys, the first one of the season”

Sean Olson continued his strong preseason and was gifted a freebie from Kilpatrick who mishandled the puck behind the net and Olson tapped it into the yawning cage.

With just 12 minutes of penalties combined for both sides in the first 20 minutes, the Red Wings went to the locker room with a 2–0 lead.

A back-and-forth second period saw the Bruins cut the lead to one, courtesy of a goal from Isaiah Thomas (not that Isaiah Thomas) at the 10:15 mark. This would be the only one of the 13 shots that would beat Levesque, and end his night in goal.

Less than two minutes later Jake Mulder restored the two-goal cushion on a great individual effort. Mulder made a nifty move around both defencemen, walked out of the corner and shelved a backhand for his first goal of the preseason.

Just 1:52 after that, Estevan would again trim the deficit to one, when Eddie Gallagher intercepted a pass and fired a quick shot past McCloskey. The second period would conclude with the Red Wings still leading, despite being outshot 15–5.

Estevan was determined to send the Red Wings home unhappy as they tied the game not once, but twice in the third period. Thomas’ second of the night came on the powerplay, on a perfect shot with 10:44 to go.

Hiltz would get the answer under two minutes later with a powerplay goal of his own. His second of the night was a thing of a beauty, as he ripped a one-timer from the high slot over Kilpatrick’s shoulder and right under the bar. It looked as if that would be enough for the Red Wings on this night. With 47 seconds to go, Gallagher was called for holding and the Wings would able to control the play and run out the clock.

However, DeKoninck couldn’t handle a bouncing puck at the blue line and Michael McChesney stole it, flew down the right side and ripped it far side off the post and in with 40 seconds to go, sending the small preseason crowd into a frenzy.

DeKoninck would redeem himself with the aforementioned game-winner. The man advantage held over to the extra frame, where DeKoninck hammered the puck past Kilpatrick off a perfect feed from Jordan Kazamyra. He swept the ice in celebration and was mobbed by his teammates after the first unofficial win of the season.

Although it won’t count in the standings as two points, Hiltz says it’s something the team can build off.

“With these preseason games here we’ve been moving forward with our group and everyone is picking things up as we go. We’ll be ready next Friday for the season to start,” he said.

Head coach of the Red Wings Wes Rudy echoed those statements.

“Exhibition is good to get a win for sure. I think back to last year, when Nipawin won the league and went 0–4 in exhibition. So is it absolute must win in exhibition? No, but wins always feel good,” he said.

With a win now under their belts, next up is the regular season. However, before that, there are still some final roster cuts that need to be made. Coach Rudy and General Manager Tanner McCall will need to have some tough conversations about who is unfortunately headed home and what they want this team to look like come September 14.

Rudy said it’s one of the toughest parts of the job.

“We like all the guys that are here. They’re all putting in effort and they all want to be here,” he said. “It’s never fun to have those conversations with kids, but at the end of the day, we’re limited to the amount of kids we can have on this team. We need to be down to 25 to start the season, then we need to be down to 23 and then to 21. It’s the part of the job I hate the most.”

With a full week of practice on tap for the Red Wings they’ll no doubt be fired and ready to play on Friday night for the home opener. The Yorkton Terriers will be in town to kick off the 2018-19 SJHL season and the action gets underway at 7:30 at Crescent Point Place.

To keep up with the Red Wings chase for the Canalta Cup this year, check out the Weyburn Red Wings page for updates and stories throughout the year.