The Aberdeen Wings weathered the storm, but couldn’t close out the series Saturday night at the Odde Ice Center.

Austin scored the game-winning goal with 2:27 left on the way to a 4-2 win to level the NAHL Central Division playoff series at 2-2. Game five is Monday in Austin.

After the Bruins scored the first two goals of the contest, the Wings regrouped, tied the score and appeared to have some momentum down the stretch. That all changed in the blink of an eye.

“First period, that was the biggest thing. We had a very bad first period. We had 17 turnovers and when you turn the puck over against a team like that, they’re going to make it hurt,” said Wings coach Scott Langer. “The good thing is we battled back. We made it 2-2. It came down to a faceoff play that we didn’t win.”

The Bruins won that possession and soon deposited the puck into the back of the net and then added an empty netter to regain home-ice advantage.

Aberdeen tied the game early in the third period and then had numerous chances to go ahead, but came up empty.

“We defeinitely had some chances that could have given us the edge to win,” said Wing’s player Anthony Ciaramitaro, “but hockey is an interesting sport. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”

The Wings figured Austin would show up on a mission with its season on the line after losing on Friday night. The Bruins did just that, scoring the first two goals of the contest, one in the opening period and another in the second. They outshot Aberdeen 28-15 in the first 40 minutes.

“We knew they were going to come out like that and then we made it a game,” said Aberdeen’s Cooper Anderson. “I thought we played really well the last two periods and then they kind of get a playoff-hockey goal off that end wall and they find it, they find it in the slot.”

Aberdeen began gaining some momentum in the second period when Anderson took a feed from Jibber Kuhl and blasted a shot from just inside the blue line that whistled into the back of the net.

“I had the same look earlier from (Brody) Dustin, so I kind of got some practice earlier that period,” Anderson said. “It was just Jibber putting it in my wheelhouse and I just let one go.”

Anderson said it feels good to score a goal like that. “Especially in that situation down two, we needed a goal. I mean that’s just big. It felt really good.”

The Wings then tied the score with 13:20 remaining in the third when Ciaramitaro somehow found the puck and scored in a split second.

Ciaramitaro had a hard time explaining the play.

“I don’t know, honestly. I saw the puck in the neutral zone and I just thought I’m gonna go. I’m gonna go get it,” he said. “I wanted to make a play, east-west.”

He not only got his stick on the puck, it found the back of the net to tie the game.

“I think it’s a little bit of luck,” Ciaramitaro said. “I think it’s a little bit of right place, right time.”

From there, the crowd became more vocal, and the Wings appeared to find a new energy source.

“We played a really good period up until the faceoff,” Langer said. “We were pushing the pace, we were getting shots and opportunities, and they weren’t getting a whole lot against us. But you ice a puck, you’re not ready to go and on your toes, and that’s playoff hockey.”

As a result, the series is now shifting back to Austin where it’s become a one-game series. The winner will move on to the Robertson Cup semifinals in Blaine, Minn., and the loser will put the jerseys away for the season.

“I think everyone in this room knows there’s something special here. We want to do something in Blaine,” Ciaramitaro said. “We want to go there. We want to bring a Robertson Cup back to Aberdeen. I think we’re going to do everything it takes to get that.”

Langer said his team needs to get off to a better start than it did in game four and win more battles.

“Way more physical, way more winning battles. Don’t lose one-on-one battles in your own zone,” Langer said. “There was a lot of stuff that could have been better, especially in that first period.”

When asked what the mood will be like on the bus to Austin, Anderson responded, “The mood is we’re not going for one night, we’re going for 10 nights. We’re going to go win it and then a trip to Blaine and stay out there.”

Anderson said the neutral zone will be crucial in the deciding game five.

“I think the neutral zone’s big,” he said. “We’ve got to win the neutral zone and obviously win the walls and the D-zone, and I think we’ll get it done.”

To see a complete box score, click on the following link:

https://www.aberdeenwings.com/game-center/?game_id=2881898&season_id=14810