The Saskatoon Blades forced overtime and then topped the Prince George Cougars 4-3 in a shootout victory on Saturday.
Josh Paterson scored the shootout winner in front of 3,817 Western Hockey League (WHL) fans at SaskTel Centre. He also netted the first goal in regulation time.
Braylon Shmyr and Max Gerlach scored Saskatoon’s other two goals on the power play.
Joel Lakusta, Ilijah Colina and Ryan Schoettler found the back of the net for Prince George (18-24-8).
Blades goaltender Tyler Brown made 36 saves after overtime had expired. Isaiah DiLaura stopped 35 shots for the Cougars.
Saskatoon is four points ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders (20-20-9) in a race for the final WHL playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Blades (25-23-3) host the Red Deer Rebels (12-25-11) on Wednesday.