A battle for first overall saw a monumental collapse by team Phamished in the final three minutes that allowed the Jollybees to escape with a 4-4 tie.
"Disgraceful. I have few words to describe tonight's outcome", said a clearly frustrated Phamished netminder Jonathan Yamada.
After a pair of goals by sniper Chad Paquette - including a blistering wrist shot off a dazzling pass from linemate Darren Rodenhizer while shorthanded - put Phamished up 3-2 midway through the second period, speedster Leuis Choi seemingly put the game away late in the third period for his club with his fourth goal of the season.
But that's when the real fun began.
Less than a minute after Choi gave Phamised a 4-2 lead, Eric Ho picked up a loose puck while trailing linemate Ryan Kram, who entered the zone with a crafty deke. Ho zigged while his opponents zagged and roofed a puck over the shoulder of Yamada and briefly gave his team an extra breath of air.
However, whatever lifeline was given to the Jollybees was instantly punctured after defenseman Percy Poon and centerman Jon Burns took penalties les than a minute apart from each other giving Phamished a glorius 5-on-3 powerplay.
One goal lead, 5-on-3 powerplay with under two minutes remaining in the game - this game should be over, right?
This is HNX where no leads are actually safe.
The Jollybees finally caught a break of their own when Phamished defenseman, Morgan Keillor, was called for interference as his backhand attempt to keep the puck in the offensive zone left his stick high and caught a rushing James Thompson in the chest.
"That was a questionable call, it was a pretty weak call to be honest," said Keillor.
If you're still following, Phamished is now on a 4-on-3 with under a minute and a half to play and basically has to play keep-away for the remainder of the game.
Enter controversy, confusion and chaos and we have a tie game.
Confusion: With Poon's penalty killed, Jollybees retained possession and headed up the ice; their bench signalled for an extra attacker which now gave them five attackers. James Thompson picked off an errant clearing attempt by Nanako Kaneto and skated quickly into Phamished territory while their bench was screaming for a "Too Many Men" penalty, not realizing Jollybees had pulled their goalie.
Chaos: With possession in the zone now, Thompson's pass attempt to Poon ricochets of Choi's skate and lands back on Thompson's stick where his quick release is blocked by Kaneto - only to land back on his stick and allow him to catch a sprawling Yamada out of position and put the puck to the back of the net while the Jollybee bench goes absolutely bonkers.
"That was one of the craziest games and finishes I've been a part of", said referee Paul Salvas, who's officiated over hundreds of games for HNX.
This story was not written by ChatGPT. All quotes are loosely based on what would have been said if it was heard.