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For a team not particularly known for its offensive prowess, the Minot High School boys hockey club got rolling at the right time on Friday.

MHS senior Rand Hammer posted a hat trick and the Magicians tallied three-period goals in a 5-3 comeback win over Jamestown at the All Seasons Arena.

The win in the loser-out game continued the Magicians' season at least one more day. Minot will take on Williston during today's region qualifying game at 3 p.m.

The Magicians trailed 3-2 entering the final period, but did so with confidence after controlling play for much of the late second period. Minot outshot Jamestown 17-6 in the second period.

"In the second period we did a nice job of regaining control of the game," MHS head coach Chad Burckhard said. "I thought we took control of the last seven minutes and really dominated play. We felt pretty good going into that third period even though we were down a goal."

It didn't take the Magi long to even the score. Hammer scored a power play goal just 40 seconds into the third period to tie the game at 3-3.

"After that goal I think we got quite a bit of momentum," Hammer said.

But the Magicians momentum was stopped by two penalties in quick succession. Minot fought off the penalties, including some time shorthanded on the 5 on 3.

"We told the boys, 'Kill this and we're going to regain all the momentum. It's going to be a big letdown for them,' " Burckhard said. "We jumped on that opportunity. We got a couple bounces finally, some things went our way and some pucks found the back of the net. It was just a good overall effort."

Minot broke the tie 14:12 into the third period when Drew Groves snapped a wrist shot past Jamestown goalie Austin Hoggarth. Hammer added a final goal in the final two minutes to seal the win.

While the Minot offense was hot late, the Magi needed some sensational defensive efforts to hang on.

Numerous times in the final period, the puck got behind MHS goalie Darren Medler, only to see Minot defenders like Devin Blada clear the puck away.

"We found out our second-best goalie on the team might be Devin Blada," Burckhard joked. "I think he saved two goals all by himself, open-netters. Devin's a feisty little defenseman. He's always around the puck and he works extremely hard. What he lacks in size he makes up for with an absolutely huge heart. It takes a special cat to stand in there and want to face pucks without any goalie equipment. He took one off the goal line and another on an open net hit him in the chest."

The first period saw each team get a goal followed by a quick response.

Jamestown took a 1-0 lead on Devyn Schauer's goal and Minot's Brady Blowers tied it 31 seconds later. Hammer got his first goal of the game for a 2-1 Minot lead but it took Jamestown just 21 seconds to make it 2-2.

Hammer said the Magi will still need to have one more big effort to earn a state tournament berth.

"We have to win or we're done playing hockey for the season, some of us for our lives," he said. "We want to keep it going."

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Bottineau strickes late

Dickinson and Bottineau combined for three goals in the final three minutes of their West Region Boys Hockey Tournament game on Friday.

The Braves got the best of the late exchange and the game.

Bottineau's Seth Serhienko scored the goal-ahead goal and teammate Dana Hall added one less than a minute later as the Braves held on for a 3-2 win.

The victory moves Bottineau into today's region qualifying game against Mandan at 12:30 p.m.

Only two goals were scored in the first 48 minutes of the game, but both teams had multiple opportunities late in the third.

"There were guys that were just worn out there at the end and consequently, there were too many good opportunities," Bottineau head coach David Hoff said. "Both teams wanted their share of opportunities, but there were too many because there were just tired kids out there."

Harrison Aide scored a goal to give Bottineau a 1-0 lead in the second period. The Braves dominated play in that period, outshooting the Midgets 17-4.

"It seems like we're grabbing the sticks a little bit tight on the offensive end so we may be pressing a little bit," Hoff said. "I think we started to wear on them a little bit in the second period, we outshot them 17-4. That just built over time."

Dickinson tied the game at 1-1 at 9:53 of the first when Nick Lengowski scored on a deflected shot.

"That got them back in, you could definitely see the life on the bench," Hoff said.

Both teams had continued chances throughout the third before Serhienko broke the tie. Dickinson's Colby Mink scored with just under 2 minutes remaining to make it 3-2.

Bottineau will be looking to earn its first state tournament berth since 1993.

"We've got 24 hours to put our best game on the ice," Hoff said. "We're a little disappointed with how we've played and maybe it's because of how we've handled the pressure. Somehow between now and (game time) we've got to deal with that a little better and give ourselves the best chance to win a hockey game."