The Parkland Rangers did their part and now they play the waiting game before they learn who they will face in the first round of the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League.

After a 5-2 loss to the Southwest Cougars, last Tuesday in Dauphin, the Rangers split a pair of games in Teulon against the Interlake Lightning, losing 6-0 on Friday and winning 7-4 on Saturday, before capping off the season with a huge 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Bruins, Monday at Credit Union Place.

On Monday, Madden Murray put the Rangers in front in the first period before Winnipeg tied it in the second on a goal from Jonas Woo.

Will Munro tallied the winner when he broke in all alone and beat Winnipeg goaltender Dimitri Fortin with 2:31 remaining in regulation to lift Parkland to the victory.

Brenden Birch-Hayden was outstanding in net for the Rangers, making 40 saves. Fortin finished the night with 26 stops.

Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said the Rangers let one slip away on Friday against Interlake, despite a good first period. The Rangers, he added, were a lot better on Saturday, a game which he felt should have been 7-2.

Monday was a character win for the Rangers, Carefoot said, noting the Bruins controlled much of the play in the second period, outshooting Parkland 21-8.

“Their second period they were all over us. We had a little adjustment in the defensive zone. We didn’t give their D as much room going into the third,” he said. “You get in a game like that, it’s just a lucky bounce. Willy made a nice play and broke away and I had a good feeling when he got that puck that a good thing was going to happen. So we feel good and we’re moving on, so it’s exciting.”

Monday was much like a playoff game and it was the kind of effort Carefoot hopes to see his young charges continue into the postseason.

“I thought the energy from the beginning of the game right to the finish, we were buzzing,” he said. “As high as our energy was, you still have to think. And I thought in the first period, there were too many turnovers, putting the puck through the middle. We made that adjustment.”

Winnipeg has a mobile defence, Carefoot said, and the Rangers made another adjustment to get within a stick length of the Bruins defence.

“And I thought it worked. And every shift I kept telling guys to get pucks to the net. Don’t force things. And we’re the ones that got the lucky bounce.”

Carefoot said it has been a while since one of their goaltenders stole a game, but Birch-Hayden did just that, with his 40-save performance.

“If we can get that effort, get that goaltending, I don’t know if there’s any team in the league that wants to face us, for sure,” he said.

Parkland finishes the season with a 18-17-2-3 record for 41 points. They currently sit in fifth place, but they could drop down to sixth if Southwest (18-19-1-1) pulls off an upset with a win over the Winnipeg Wild (30-4-1-2) on Wednesday.

If the Rangers finish fifth, which is likely, they will face the Yellowhead Chiefs in the best-of-five quarterfinals, starting in Shoal Lake. The Chiefs, Carefoot said, are a gritty club and are well coached.

“They don’t quit and we’re going to have to match that. I think we’re a little bit deeper offensively, but they’ve got some good goaltending. They’re just a group of guys that play hard and they’re tough to play against. And we’re going to have to match that if we’re going to have any success against them,” he said.