On the coldest day in central Wisconsin in nearly two years, two hot teams met on the ice at the South Wood County Rec Center on Monday afternoon in an effort to sort out the standings in the Great Northern Conference.

After 59 minutes of play, the Northern Edge and the Point-Rapids Red Panthers were unable to reach a decision and the teams skated off with a 1-1 tie as overtime ended.

The teams entered play with identical 6-2 GNC records, with the winner grabbing sole possession of second in the tightly-contested conference standings.

Instead, the two teams are now in a three-way virtual tie with Marshfield for second, as all chase league leader Northland Pines, who is clinging to a two-point lead with a handful of games yet to play.

The first period was a scoreless battle, with the hosts getting the best of the shot column, leading 12-6 after the first 17 minutes of play.

The Red Panthers (7-9-2, 6-2-1 GNC) scored first midway through the middle stanza. Hailey Ehr grabbed a rebound and tucked it past Edge goalie Sophie Schmidt at the 9:17 mark, with an assist going to Rachel Metz.

The visitors scored just 90 seconds later when Lindsey Steger tallied from the back door on nice passes from Katie Detert and Sierra Vinger to make it 1-1 at the 10:47 mark.

Shots were even at five apiece.

The third period was scoreless despite a late power play by the home team, and shots were also five per team.

Schmidt stoned a couple point-blank chances late,  including a breakaway by Ehr, to keep the score tied.

The overtime featured a power play by the Edge with under a minute left, but they were unable to tally and the the two squads shook hands on a hard-fought game. Shots were 3-2 in favor of the Red Panthers.

The Edge (9-5-1, 6-2-1 GNC) got 24 stops from Schmidt, who is leading the conference with a .921 save percentage. Emily Bubla made 17 saves for Point-Rapids.

Northern Edge will host Waupaca Saturday at the Langlade County Multi-Purpose Building, while Point-Rapids will face Marshfield at Ice Hawks Arena in Stevens Point Friday night.

Special thanks to Gabbe Millot for performing the National Anthem prior to the game!