The Kindersley Jr. Klippers and Nipawin Hawks tangled at the Cage in Nipawin Friday night. Kindersley got on the board first, as Adam Paplawski found a loose puck and put it behind Jackson Fellner on the shot by Kyler Smith. But penalty trouble hit the Klippers as they took back-to-back penalties and the Hawks took advantage.

Alyandro De Leon got his first SJHL goal after Logan Falk made two outstanding saves. After the goal, Liam Bell went off for interference just 33 seconds later and the Hawks took the lead on a goal by Alex Johnson, as he found a loose puck in the slot and beat an unprepared Falk. Kindersley then took the play to Nipawin late and drew a penalty, as Rosetown product Eric Robbie went off for holding.

That penalty overlapped into the second period, but the Klippers could not take advantage. However, they tied the score on a heads up play by Tyson Tisdale for his first point in the SJHL, as he found Ethan Scriven wide open at the back door and beat Fellner to tie to the score. Kindersley kept coming on a nice forecheck by Jaydon Jessiman and Nathan DeGraves, as DeGraves found Aidan Bangs wide open in the slot and he made no mistake to give the Klippers a one goal lead.

The Hawks tied the score on another powerplay, as this time Joel Mabin beat Falk over the left shoulder. The third period saw the Klippers score a shorthanded goal on a absolute beauty by Logan Cox on the breakaway, to give Kindersley a one goal lead. That lead was short-lived though, as Alex Johnson got his second on the powerplay to tie the score at four.

The teams headed to overtime, and it was nearly a disaster for the Klippers, as Matthew Mazzocchi boarded Plenty native Carson Dobson and Nipawin would get a 4-on-3 opportunity in the extra session. The Hawks could not take advantage, and the best chance actually went to Kindersley’s Adam Paplawski, who had a partial break, but could not beat Fellner.

The teams went to the shootout and Logan Falk made one of the greatest saves I’ve ever seen, as Alex Ochitwa came in and deked him out, but somehow, he got his toe on it to keep Nipawin at bay. Kindersley could not help out their goaltender, as the shootout went out to round four and Reid Mackay finally beat Falk to give the Hawks an exciting 5-4 shootout win.

This was a gut-wrenching loss for the Jr. Klippers, as I felt they deserved a much better fate. Penalties were the reason the game was close, as Nipawin went 4 for 7 on the powerplay and Kindersley went 0 for 3.

Kindersley will play Nipawin two more times at home next week, beginning on November 18 at 7:30 from the West Central Events Centre.