While the power was out most of the day in Saugeen Shores, the Winterhawks brought plenty of offensive power to Shallow Lake on Friday night.
Andy Mitchell scored the eventual game-winning goal as the Winterhawks snapped a three-game losing streak with an 8-6 victory over the Shallow Lake Crushers.
Shallow Lake got on the board just over five minutes into the 1st period with a goal by Corey Schnurr, who beat Josh Sturrock to make it 1-0 Crushers.
Brendon Haefling answered back for the Winterhawks three minutes later to knot the game at 1-1, with Nick Quaid picking up an assist.
Trevor Smith broke the tie in the dying seconds of the period, putting a powerplay goal past Shallow Lake netminder Justin Hammond to give the Winterhawks a 2-1 lead after one period of play.
The Winterhawks appeared to blow the game open early in the 2nd period when Brent MacDermid's unassisted marker was immediately followed up by a breakaway goal from Greg Wardell, putting the Winterhawks up 4-1 and chasing Hammond from the Shallow Lake net.
Brandon Vanderschot took over between the pipes for Shallow Lake, and it sparked the Crushers, who scored three quick goals to tie the game up at 4-4 just past the halfway point of the period.
The Winterhawks bounced back with a quick reply by veteran Chris King, who scored to make it 5-4 on a goal assisted by Alex Penner.
The Crushers, however, would not go away and they tied the game again on a goal by Mike Martindale with eight seconds left in the 2nd period to make it a 5-5 game after 40 minutes.
Quaid would score at 4:19 of the 3rd period to restore the Winterhawks lead, but again Shallow Lake answered back with Schnurr's 2nd of the game to make it 6-6.
Mitchell would give the Winterhawks the lead for good with his goal with 6:42 left in the 3rd period, with MacDermid picking up an assist.
Andy Fracz added the insurance marker 1:10 later, with Blake Underwood assisting on the goal to arrive at the final of 8-6.
The win improves the Winterhawks record to 2-4-0 on the season.
The Winterhawks continue their road schedule tomorrow Saturday against the Lucknow Lancers. Gametime in Lucknow is 7:30 p.m.
With files from winterhawks.net
