Seventeen years (give or take a month or two) is an awful long time to wait for a home victory over an opponent in the North Peace Hockey League. But that’s exactly how long the Falher Pirates had to wait before recording a home win over over the Peace River Stampeders in the form of a thrilling 8-7 overtime victory Nov. 6 at Falher Regional Recreation Complex. The win at home for the Pirates was the first against Peace River since Jan. 24, 1991, when the Pirates defeated the Stampeders 6-3. “We were well aware of that stat prior to the game yet we still came out flat, ” says Pirates’ captain Jason Bouchard, who eventually notched the overtime winner. “It just goes to show the kind of leadership and character we have on this team. Nobody was willing to throw in the towel,” he adds. The win saw the high-flying Pirates play the role of thieves in the night by stealing what appeared to be a sure two points from the back pockets of Peace River. Falher found itself behind the eight ball early in the contest by giving up four goals to trail 4-1 after the opening period. And the outlook didn’t get much better in the middle frame as Peace River outscored the Pirates 2-1 to take what appeared to be a 6-2 stranglehold on the game heading into the third period. Cue the amazing comeback! Falher would surrender an early power play goal in the final period to trail 7-2 prior to opening up the offensive floodgates with five unanswered goals in the final 17 minutes of play, three of which came with the man advantage. The incredible shift in momentum began at the 2:57 mark on a goal from Keith Reade. That was followed by a trio of goals off the stick of Daniel Aubin within a six-minute time frame to trim the lead to 7-6. Reade would then tie the game at the 11:04 mark, eventually sending the game into overtime where Bouchard would be the hero at 15:55 after being set up by Aubin. The incredible win came less than one week after the Pirates recorded their first loss of the season – a 11-5 defeat at home Nov. 1 against the Hythe Mustangs. Providing the spark on offense for Falher was Evan Zawachi with a trio of goals. Singles, meanwhile, went to Bouchard and Jared Zawachi. Upcoming action for the Pirates includes three consecutive road games, including Fort St. John on Nov. 15 followed by High Prairie Nov. 20 and Grande Prairie Nov. 29. The team’s next home game is Dec. 5 when they host the Spirit River Rangers.