Trailing 2-0 in the third period, SLP erased the deficit with a pair of unanswered tallies to force overtime, and then nearly won the matchup during the five-minute sudden-death period.

Dariana Patterson netted SLP’s first goal and Ireland Preston then came through big time, scoring with 14 seconds remaining in regulation for the hosts to send the game into extra time.

Defender Rylee Preston nearly won it in overtime for SLP but came up empty when Shamrocks goaltender Carli Carter posted a big save that allowed Salmon River to escape the Saranac Lake Civic Center with its unbeaten record still intact.

The Shamrocks entered the game with a 7-0 mark and had outscored its opponents by a combined 30-4 while chalking up those seven victories.

Faith Warner skates the puck up the ice for Saranac Lake Placid during the second period of Wednesday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

SLP now has a 2-2-3 record following the deadlock.

“Regardless of the score, I’m just pleased with the effort from our team,” SLP head coach Mike Bringley said. “They showed an awful lot of fight tonight. Down 2-0 in the third period, our girls could have just given up, but they kept working.

“Salmon River has a lot of offensive-minded players who can handle the puck really well, and our game plan was to play good defensively, wait for our chances and take advantage of their mistakes,” Bringley continued. “We stayed patient, just kept working and made the most out of our chances.”

Despite being outshot 27-18, SLP kept things tight from start to finish.

The teams played scoreless in the opening period, and Salmon River finally got on the board with 1:30 remaining in the second when Rylee Garrow sent a shot from the point into the lower left corner of the net past a screened SLP goaltender Brooke Paries.

The Shamrocks went up 2-0 on a goal by Jaryn Chubb 5:19 into the third period.

SLP then stormed back. Dariana Patterson put SLP on the board with an unassisted power-play goal with 6:43 left in the third, and Preston followed with the equalizer in the closing seconds of regulation with Danaya Patterson and  Dariana Patterson assisting.

Paries, a senior, was solid in nets for SLP and finished with 25 saves. Cartier recorded 16 stops for Salmon River.

“We stayed out of the penalty box, and that was huge,” Bringley said. “It’s no secret that we kind of struggle with scoring, so special teams are going to be important. Brooke did a nice job in goal for us tonight, and our defense did a good job clearing the puck and limiting their second chances.”

Autumn Benedict, Olivia Moulton and Myrand Collette collected one assist each for Salmon River, which is now 7-0-1 and next plays at Potsdam Saturday.

SLP will be back in action tonight at the Saranac Lake Civic Center to host Massena starting at 6:30 p.m.

“There won’t be any easy games for us in Section VII or Section X,” Bringley said. “Massena is a good hockey team and we’re going to have to play well to compete against them. Every game this season is going to be a battle.”