HIGHLIGHTS:

Despite being at opposite ends of the standings in the Big Six Hockey League, Wednesday night's battle between the Carlyle Cougars and Redvers Rockets would come down to the final seconds of regulation.

With Carlyle pressing for the tying goal, the Rockets were able to hold off the Cougars and skate away with a 7-5 victory after adding an empty net goal with 5.1 seconds remaining.

Entering the game, Redvers was looking to leapfrog over Yellow Grass for second overall in the league standings while Carlyle has been desperately searching for a way to halt a losing streak that reached ten games.

But once the puck was dropped, you wouldn't have known the two teams were separated by 12 points in the standings as the action was fast and furious, with both teams playing hard for the full 60 minutes.

Rockets' captain Jordon Miller kicked off the scoring in the opening minutes with his 7th goal of the season. Carlyle would tie the game at 1-1 minutes later as Brett Turgeon answered back with his 7th of the year on a perfect deflection.

Redvers would add two more goals before the intermission, with Kelsey Kenler potting his 3rd of the season and Todd Gervais cracking the goose egg for his 1st marker of the year to make it 3-1.

The Rockets' extended their lead to 4-1 early in the 2nd period, with Brady Gaudet one-timing a blast past Carlyle's Kruz Wilson on the powerplay. But the Cougars' stuck with their gameplan and worked their way back into the game as the period wore on. 

Brent MacLean (#10) Scores His 2nd Goal Of The Season.

A stretch pass sprung Brent MacLean in on a breakaway midway through the game, with MacLean making no mistake to cut the deficit to 4-2. Then Carlyle scored their second powerplay goal in as many chances when captain Ben Johnstone fired his 7th of the season past Brodie McColl and into the Redvers net to make it 4-3.

But, just like in the 1st period, Redvers would add two late goals to swing the momentum back in their favour before the intermission. Dakota Rose snapped his team-leading 8th goal of the year five-hole to increase the Rockets' lead to 5-3. Then with only 12 seconds left in the period, Kenler flipped home his second of the night to make it 6-3 Redvers after two periods.

The Cougars' remained resilient, and fought back in the final frame. Just a minute into the 3rd period, Cooper Fox sniped his team-leading 9th goal of the season blocker-side to trim the lead to 6-4. Carlyle pushed on and with just under seven minutes remaining, Joel Mack capitalized on a rebound for his first goal of the season to make it a one-goal game at 6-5. 

Jordon Miller (left) & Kevin Mann (right).

Teams would trade chances in the final minutes, and with just under a minute remaining Carlyle was able to pull the goalie for the extra attacker in an attempt to force overtime. However, the comeback attempt would eventually fall just short and after Kevin Mann scored into the empty net with only seconds remaining on the clock, Redvers would finally be able to breathe easy after a 7-5 victory.

Redvers (8-4) sits in sole possession of 2nd overall in the standings at their halfway point in the regular season, while Carlyle (1-11) is still searching for their first win since opening night on November 3rd.

READ MORE: BIG SIX STANDINGS

The next Big Six Broadcast on CJ1150 will take place in 2018, as the Yellow Grass Wheat Kings take on the Wawota Flyers on Sunday, January 7th at 5pm inside the Wawota Community Forum.

READ MORE: BIG SIX BROADCAST SCHEDULE

UPCOMING GAMES

Friday, Dec. 15

Midale at Wawota - 8:00

Bienfait at Oxbow - 8:00

Carnduff at Arcola - 8:00

Saturday, Dec. 16

Yellow Grass at Redvers - 7:00

Bienfait at Wawota - 8:00

Oxbow at Carnduff - 8:00

Midale at Carlyle - 8:00