Fraser Valley answers and succeeds in OT to win chippy Winter Classic clash

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In the second period, Fraser Valley knotted things up and shook loose of their goose egg on the scoreboard. Alyandro De Leon came up with the scoring play for the Thunderbirds, tallying his 16th goal of the season.

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But with 6:05 remaining in the middle frame, Decker Mujcin pulled Cariboo back ahead to make it a 2-1 game. The Cariboo captain registered his 13th of the season.

Heading into the final period, ice crews made the most of the time to better the ice conditions as best they could.

Cariboo held onto their lead for the first half of the period, until Darius Bachler scored his 9th of the season from a scramble in front of the Cariboo net. The game-tying goal came with 9:57 remaining in the game, ultimately leading to an overtime period after neither team was able to find a go-ahead marker in regulation.

In overtime, playing three-on-three helped open up an otherwise small rink at the Ernie Sam Memorial Arena. Lincoln Edwards parked himself in front of Tysen Smith and re-directed a shot from Brendan Ruskowski to sneak the puck past the Cariboo goalie and secure the outdoor win for Fraser Valley.

Tysen Smith was handed the overtime loss between the pipes for Cariboo while Trevor Agnew got the win for the Thunderbirds.

The win gives Fraser Valley a little bit of ground in the standings as the weekend series has been a clash of fourth and fifth in the BCEHL U18 AAA Standings. The Thunderbirds (13-8-3-1) now sit with 30 points while the single points by Cariboo (11-10-1-3) put them up to 26.

Both teams will play the second game of the weekend series in Fort St.James on Sunday at the Fort Forum. That game gets played at 12:30. Meanwhile, the Northern Capitals will get their outdoor experience at the Ernie Sam Memorial Arena at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, following a 4-1 loss to the Fraser Valley Rush on Saturday in Vanderhoof.