Andy Mitchell scored 57 seconds into overtime to cap a come-from-behind victory for the Winterhawks over the defending WOAA Sr. Hockey League champion Clinton Radars.
The Winterhawks rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the 3rd period to capture their eighth win in a row.
The game was originally to be a battle between the first place Winterhawks and second place Radars, but earlier in the week, Clinton was forced to forfeit three games due to the use of an ineligible player earlier in the season.
As a result, Clinton relinquished five points and dropped to seventh in the league standings.
Nevertheless, the Radars came out flying early on, peppering shots in on Blake Sinclair, who held his team in as they got their legs under them.
Despite an early Winterhawks powerplay, Clinton got on the board when Brent MacDermid blew a wheel, resulting in a Radars 2-on-1, and Tyler Doig depositing the puck past a helpless Sinclair.
The Winterhawks would get it back with a shorthanded goal of their own late in the 1st, when Andy Fracz slid a pass across to Theo Peckham, who tipped the puck past Clinton netminder Marc Nother to make it a 1-1 game after one period.
The Winterhawks found themselves in penalty trouble in the 2nd period, taking four consecutive minor penalties. Sinclair and the penalty killers managed to avoid disaster until 18:19 of the 2nd, when Kyle Prolivy swatted home a loose puck in the slot just as a two-man advantage had ended.
Clinton expanded its lead to 3-1 early in the 3rd when Doig put his second of the night past Sinclair.
Despite being down two goals in the 3rd period to the defending champions, the Winterhawks battled back as the clock wound down.
Alex Penner got loose in the slot at the 5:26 mark of the 3rd, taking a perfect pass from Fracz to get the Winterhawks to within one.
The Winterhawks pressured the Radars as they looked for the equalizer, which came with exactly two minutes remaining when Bryan Kazarian batted the puck past Nother, with Curtis Johnston and Alex Kuntz assisting.
That set up the winning goal in overtime, as Mitchell came in over the Radars blueline and snapped a quick shot past Nother to seal the 4-3 win.
Sinclair was sensational in the Winterhawks net, making 42 saves for the win.
The win improves the first place Winterhawks to 8-1-0 on the season, and they will take their eight-game winning streak into Lucknow on Saturday, November 26 to face the Lancers at 7:30 p.m.
with files from winterhawks.net.
