REGINA — The Moose Jaw Warriors are back in the Western Hockey League win column.
Rilen Kovacevic scored his second of the game with 1:31 to play in overtime to give the Warriors a 4-3 victory over the Regina Pats on Teddy Bear Toss Night in the Brandt Centre.
The win sees Moose Jaw improve to 7-19-3-1 while snapping a five-game losing skid, with Regina dropping to 8-17-4-2 and picking up a least a point for a third straight game.
The Pats didn’t wait long to take care of the important business on the night.
Only 2:25 into the contest, Jace Egland was rewarded for going hard to the net by finding a loose puck during a goalmouth scramble, and his quick shot would send the teddy bears flying.
The goal was Egland’s second of the season, with Zach Lansard and Anthony Wilson drawing assists on the always-special marker.
The 3,403 bears, toques and mittens took around 20 minutes to clear, with all the donations going to the Salvation Army and local charities for distribution as Christmas gifts.
Moose Jaw got that one back just over three minutes later. Keaton Dowhaniuk spun to elude a defender along the boards and broke in off the right faceoff circle before putting home a shot for his first as a Warrior.
Both Warriors goaltender Josh Banini and Pats netminder Kelton Pyne had to be sharp as the period progressed, with each making huge saves to preserve the tie.
Regina regained the lead at the 10:09 mark when Zach Pantelakis scored on a backhand top shelf from a near-impossible angle, with the marker his first with the Pats.
Lynden Lakovic then tied things up two minutes later, extending his point streak to 11 games by putting home a backhand in close after breaking across the Regina net.
Regina had a two-man advantage for almost a minute and a half late in the period, but the Warriors penalty kill would come up huge and maintain the tie.
Moose Jaw received a power play of their own with 30 seconds to play in the frame, and sure enough, the Warriors would take the lead.
Rilen Kovacevic hammered home a one-timer pass from Aiden Ziprick to give the Warriors a 3-2 edge with 14 seconds remaining in the frame.
The third period was largely an uneventful back-and-forth affair, but Pyne had one of the bigger moments when he snared a Pavel McKenzie one-timer with five minutes remaining in the game.
That save would prove to be crucial, as Caden Brown scored with Pyne pulled for the extra attacker with 1:02 remaining, and the game went to overtime.
There, the Warriors would get the win at the 1:31 mark when Kovacevic beat his man off the boards and drove across the net, tucking the puck into the open cage.
Lakovic added a pair of assists to his ledger to finish with three points on the night.
Banini stopped 27 shots to earn the win, while Pyne had 26 saves.
Moose Jaw is back in action Tuesday when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings, while Regina is off until Dec. 27 when they also are in Brandon.
