The Diamond Energy Female Midget AAA Wildcats' five-game winning streak was snapped at the hands of the Battlefords Sharks, as the two teams split a weekend set at Fairview West.

It was a wild one Saturday night at Fairview, in a game that finished in much different fashion than the one-sided first period.

The Wildcats peppered the Sharks's netminder with 21 shots in the first 20 minutes.

Two goals from Baylee Kirwan and one apiece from Brooklyn Rublee and Ashlee Wolfe spelled a four-goal lead with 2:08 to play in the period. Battlefords did manage one before the first intermission, scoring with 58 seconds to go and on the powerplay.

"We were really good in the first period and probably the first 19 minutes we were dominant and up 4-0, and it just kind of slipped away," said Wildcats head coach Terry Pavely. "It started with offensive zone penalty we didn't need to take and they scored on the powerplay."

"We weren't sharp and we weren't as good as we needed to be. It was almost like we got 4-0 and everybody thought it was going to another one of those nine-goal games... it just spirals," added Pavely.

"Then, they had two powerplays right at the start of the second period," he noted. "We killed them, but you end up spending four minutes in your zone for the most part, and gassing some kids."

The Sharks kept their foot on the gas on 5-on-5 play, scoring with 13:08 and 11:28 to play in the second period.

"They just kept chipping away, and they were sort of getting some energy. They were really hounding the front of our net and we didn't do a real good job of protecting in front," Pavely admitted.

The Wildcats were able score once in the middle frame, as Kirwan rounded out her hat-trick with 10:46 to play in the period.

Battlefords took over in the third period, scoring with 14:54 left and then short-handed with 7:10 remaining in regulation to force extra time.

"In overtime they were the better team, and that was probably the more frustrating part of it. You look at our lineup, you'd think 4-on-4 and 3-on-3 we'd have the definite advantage, and they were the better team," said Pavely.

Neither side scored in the first or second OT, so off to a shootout they went.

The Sharks scored on their first attempt, in what proved to be a 6-5 shootout win over the Wildcats.

The main source of the post-game frustration for Pavely stemmed from his team teetering on the edge of a blowout win.

"We cycled pucks really well in the first period, and we were good defensively. If we'd have stuck with that, we probably win that game 6-1, 6-2, 7-1, 7-2. But, we got away from what makes us a real good team, and it caught up to us. You hope it's a lesson learned," he said.

The Wildcats pumped 52 shots on goal, nearly doubling up the Sharks' 28 in the game.

Swift Current jumped back in the win column to round out the weekend set on Sunday, as the Wildcats came out with a much more even-keeled manner.

"We were a little worried in our game today, when you give up a 4-0 lead and lose, you know the other team's going to really come out with energy. They did in the first two or three minutes of the game, and we were caught on our heels, but we just stuck with it and overtook the game as it went on today," Pavely said.

The Wildcats scored the lone goal of the first period, as Kirwan put home her fourth of the weekend on the powerplay with 6:27 left in the frame.

The lead quickly leapt up to three, as Sara Kendall scored just 31 seconds into the second period, before a second in the game from Kirwan was buried just 1:03 later.

After that, though, the Wildcats racked up four minor penalties, with the Sharks scoring midway through the fourth, with 3:27 to go, to cut Swift's lead to two.

"We made it a little harder on ourselves than we have to. We just start taking penalties. That's the one thing that comes back with us," Pavely said. "We've got to find a way to be more disciplined. We have to learn that we have to pick our spots better. Right now, we're not. We take penalties at inopportune times. When we have a chance to bury a team, sometimes we just give them life by taking penalties."

Despite the powerplay goal in the second, the Sharks had little success in the third period the Wildcats' zone, as Swift Current held on for a 3-1 victory.

"We were really happy with the way we responded today. We thought we played a really solid game. We were really good defensively. That game could have easily got out of hand a little bit in our favour. Their goalie made some fabulous saves."

Swift Current out-shot the Sharks 28-21, and the Wildcats' bench boss felt his team also handily controlled the number of quality chances as well.

"We (gave up) probably three or four really good scoring chances in a 60-minute game. Very happy with the way we played defensively," Pavely said, doubling down on the praise for his back end's D-zone efforts.

The Wildcats clinched at worst second place over the weekend, as their 17-4-1-1 record perches them out of the reach of third-place Notre Dame (9-11-2-2) and fourth-place Prince Albert (9-12-0-1) in the 30-game regular season.

Now, it'll be a playoff-like schedule to prep the Wildcats for that post-season push.

Seven games remain for Swift Current, including a three-in-three in their next action.

The Wildcats are on the road February 21 and 22 against the Notre Dame Hounds, before rounding out that busy stretch February 23 in Regina against the first-place Rebels (20-0-1-1). After that, the Wildcats close the regular season with another three-in-three as part of four games in five days in early March.

In total, the Wildcats face the Rebels three times over the final seven games, with another three against the third-place Hounds.

If playoffs were to start today, the Wildcats would be tasked with a battle against the seventh/last-place Weyburn Gold Wings (2-20-3-2), who again finish in the regular-season basement.

Pavely added that with the grind of a playoff series resembling the final seven games, it'll also be a fresh look at the Rebels, and how the Wildcats hope to gameplan against them, should Swift's goal of reaching the league finals come to fruition.

The February 21 battle with the Hounds runs 8 p.m. in Wilcox, with the rematch a 1:30 p.m. tilt the next afternoon.

The February 23 game against the Rebels will be broadcast live on The Eagle 94.1. The Redhead Equipment Local Sports Live broadcast is underway at 2:15 p.m. with the First Avenue Dental pre-game show. Puck drop is slated for 2:30 from the Cooperators Centre in Regina.