The Carman Beavers were 4-3 winners over the Portage Islanders last night in game one of the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League Semi Final. They needed overtime to get the job done in an exciting back-and-forth game.

"I thought we played pretty well, and maybe we deserved to win it, but that's how things go in the playoffs," says Islander Tyler Harland. "I think if we bring that same effort every night for the rest of the series it will put us in a good position to have success here going forward."

The teams were tied at one through two periods. Islanders' captain Anders Strome lit the lamp with just over five minutes to go in the second to take the 1-0 lead. The Beavers came right back and tied it up a couple of minutes later to end the period.

Neither team seemed to give either any room to work in the neutral zone in the third, and scoring chances were reduced to a minimum. Each time a goal was scored the other team would find a way to tie it. Portage's Jordyn Boyd made it 2-1 but the Beavers scored two minutes later on the powerplay to tie the game at two. Carman was next on the board. They found the back of the net right off the face off with a top corner blast from the top of the circle. Boyd struck back for the Islanders. He scored his second of the night on a delayed penalty call with the extra attacker. Portage had a four-minute powerplay to finish off the third but couldn't get the job done, so overtime was needed.

Jordan Boyd celebrates his first goal of the night to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead in the third period Feb. 23, 2017. (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

It didn't take long for Carman to find the back of the net in overtime. Laurent Benjamin found an opening in the slot and shot one over Mitch Wiebe's glove to win the game four minutes in.

"We got the puck in deep and someone found me in a soft spot and I just threw it on the net," says Beavers forward Laurent Benjamin. "I knew I had a little screen in front and I found a hole and it went in luckily."

There was a little bit of controversy on the play. Islanders' forward Zack Waldvogel was slew-footed by the blue line and wasn't able to clear the puck, it immediately went to Benjamin who buried the game winner. Captain Anders Strome argued with the ref as long as he could after the Beavers had finished celebrating but the call stood on the play.

"I didn't really see the play but the ref made the call that he saw fit," says Harland. "Those things seem to have a way of evening themselves up over the course of a series so we're not worried about it at all."

The Islanders are in Carman for game two of the series Saturday night.

"The Beavers are a good team," adds Harland. "They're very skilled offensively so we need to make sure we're limiting their chances. That will be key to us having success going forward in this series."

The puck drops tomorrow at 8 p.m. in Carman.