It is often said that a goaltender is a team's best penalty-killer, and that was true in the case of Northland Pines goalie Kim Van Brunt, and to a lesser extent, Marshfield goalie Alexis Straughan.

Van Brunt and her teammates killed off nine of 10 penalties, including 128 seconds worth of 5-on-3, while Straughan and the Tigers succeeded three of four times while on the kill as the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie at the Marshfield Youth Ice & Rec Center Monday evening.

It took the hosts 7:03 to get on the board, and it was on the power play, of course.

Defenseman Paige Johnson ripped a shot from the top of the right circle and the puck found a gap between Van Brunt's body and blocker to stake Marshfield to a 1-0 lead. Emily Wolfe earned a helper on the play.

The Eagles had a good chance to tie the contest just under a minute later, but Straughan made a nice save and then covered the bobbled puck on a shot by Kelly McGinnis, who found herself on a breakaway down the left side. 

The teams played most of the last half of the period on power plays, but neither team scored as the home squad skated off to the locker room with the 1-0 lead intact.

Pines held a 14-10 shot edge in the period, with both netminders definitely earning their keep.

The second period would see the Eagles score a power play goal early on to tie the game.

It took just 44 seconds of power play time for Paige Healy to put back a rebound from the low right side at the 13:24 mark. Cali Sanborn and McGinnis were credited with assists on the play.

As in the prior period, the second half of the second stanza was played mostly with special teams. In a two minute span, fans saw Straughan stop a Pines 2-on-1; saw Van Brunt kick out her left leg pad just in time to stop a Johnson shot through traffic; and saw Straughan stop a short-handed 5-on-3 chance by McGinnis.

Van Brunt was terrific on her end, as she faced two consecutive 5-on-3 chances, making several saves throughout the 73 seconds, which must have seemed like an eternity.

The period ended with both teams showing one on the scoreboard, and the visitors once again held a slight shot advantage (9-6).

Pines had a power play chance just over one minute into the third but could not convert.

Six minutes later, Tigers fan's hearts stopped as the Eagles' Kali Ebert sent a shot sailing over Straughan's right shoulder, but fortunately for the goalie and her fans, it whizzed over the crossbar as well. 

With just over two minutes remaining in regulation, the Eagles buzzed the net one last time and saw three chances repelled by Straughan to keep the game even at one.

With 14 seconds left, Pines was called for a penalty that would carry over into the extra period. The Tigers outshot the guests by a margin of 10-8 in the period.

The overtime saw some high-octane, physical hockey, but it wasn't until there was 1:45 left before a penalty was called on Pines. Fifty seconds later another infraction was whistled against the guests to give the Tigers another 5-on-3. Tiger coach Nate Sparbel might have been tinkering with the idea of pulling his goalie for a 6-on-3 advantage, but decided against it as the horn went off on the 1-1 deadlock.

The Tigers outshot the guests 4-3 in the eight-minute period.

Straughan made 33 saves in the contest, while Van Brunt stopped 29 of 30 shots fired at her. It was a stellar effort by both netminders in a high-pressure game.

The Eagles (9-4-2, 5-1-1 GNC) will face the Webster co-op Friday in their home Pines Classic Tournament. The Tigers (6-5-1, 4-2-1 GNC) will travel to Beaver Dam to the play the Beaver Dam/Randolph co-op Friday.