Looking to return to their winning ways after suffering two consecutive losses to the Aberdeen Wings last weekend, the Minot Minotauros snapped their skid with a 4-3 overtime victory against the Austin Bruins at Riverside Arena Friday night.

Minot gave Keenan Rancier, their usual starter between the pipes, a rare night off to begin the four-game road trip and backup Carter Clafton came through with one of his more impressive starts of his abbreviated season against the fifth-place Bruins.

Despite surrendering the three tallies, he made 32 saves on 35 shots when it was all said and done. In his previous five games this season, the 19-year-old goaltender had allowed 19 total goals on the 186 shots he faced and entered Friday’s game without a win to his name.

Austin countered with Tyler Shea, who owned a .917 save percentage and had allowed just over three goals per game spanning 26 appearances this year.

The Minotauros’ offense wasted no time establishing itself following the opening puck drop. Minot entered the offensive zone on a three-on-two chance with Brett Roloson streaking down the center of the ice within the first minute of play.

Roloson, who had made it to the blue paint and was directly in front of Shea, received a pass from the left circle and chipped the puck past the Bruins’ netminder just 36 seconds into the game.

The score was his third of the season, and broke a 14-game goal drought for the 20-year-old forward. Logan Anderson and Ethan Schmunk were both credited with assists on the play, their fifth and seventh helpers of the season, respectively.

The early goal was just a fraction of what became an eventful first period. A brouhaha surfaced between the two squads a little over two minutes later, and Austin’s Braidan Simmons-Fischer and Minot’s Max Bogdanovich were both slapped with a five-minute major penalty for fighting, as well as a 10-minute game misconduct. Simmons-Fischer was also given an additional two minutes for instigation to finish off the consequences doled out by the referees.

Neither team was able to cash in following the two penalties, and the first period’s final buzzer sounded with Minot holding its 1-0 advantage. The Bruins held the overall edge in the offensive zone, though, outshooting the Minotauros 13-8 in the first 20 minutes.

The second period similarly saw offensive fireworks not long after puck drop. On just its second shot of the period, Austin leveled the score thanks to a Kyle Oleksiuk shot three minutes and 41 seconds into the frame.

Minot struck back a minute and 20 seconds later, when Cade Stibbe forced a turnover and ripped the puck past Shea with help from Logan Anderson. Minot’s second goal was Stibbe’s ninth of the year and gave the Minotauros their one-goal lead right back.

Both teams would combine for three more penalties the remainder of the period, two of which were roughing minor penalties by the Bruins’ Frank Dovorany and Minot’s Blaine Warnert on the same play, but neither squad was able to add to the scoreboard. The Minotauros again entered the intermission ahead by one but losing the battle in the shot column, this time 14-9 in the period and 27-17 total.

It started to unravel for Minot in the third period, when the Minotauros were called for a pair of penalties that proved costly. Austin struck for the equalizer just after Minot killed off the first, and scored the go-ahead goal on the man advantage 13 minutes and 18 seconds into the period.

Damon Zimmer came to the Minotauros’ rescue in the final two minutes of play, scoring Minot’s third goal with aid from Roloson with just a minute and 10 seconds left, and Tyler Kostelecky potted the winner on the power play in overtime to lift Minot over Austin for the third time this season.

Six different skaters found the scoresheet in the winning effort, and Minot will attempt the two-game sweep of the Bruins on the other side of the back-to-back Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from Riverside Arena.