1,238 fans at the Whitney Forum witnessed a gritty win for the Flin Flon Bombers - a 7-6 shootout victory over La Ronge.
The two teams faced off in this year's edition of Hockey Night in the North - fans were able to attend the game free of charge.
Connor Smith opened the scoring for La Ronge in the first period, giving the Ice Wolves an early lead. However, that lead wouldn't last, with the Bombers scoring three goals in quick succession courtesy of Nate Hooper, Daylan Marchi and Brody Madarash. La Ronge's Trey Doell scored to cut the lead to one, but Donavan Houle-Villeneuve made it a 4-2 game with a late second period goal.
Dawson McKenzie made the game 5-2 with an early third period marker, but the Ice Wolves clawed back. Within two and a half minutes, La Ronge scored three times, with Stephon Perreault, Antonio Di Paolo and Nolan Dawson scoring moments apart to tie the game late.
Marchi scored his second goal of the night to give the Bombers a lead, but La Ronge's Zach Bannister tied the game on a late powerplay, making the game 6-6 and priming the two sides for overtime.
Overtime solved nothing - shootout time. After Houle-Villeneuve missed on the Bombers' first shot, Nate Hooper and Caleb Moretz sealed the deal with goals, giving the Bombers a big 7-6 win in front of a packed crowd.
Brenden Newton got the win with 42 saves, while La Ronge's Merek Pipes made 51 stops.
The Bombers will face division rivals Nipawin and Melfort on the road on Feb. 6 and 9 before meeting the Mustangs in Flin Flon on Feb. 10.
