HARRINGTON, Del. — Everett Thompson made sure that the Watertown Wolves completed their regular season on a positive note.
Thompson scored a pair of goals, including the deciding tally 1 minute and 39 seconds into overtime, to lift the Wolves to a 5-4 triumph over the Delaware Thunder on Saturday night in a Federal Prospects Hockey League game before a turnout of 645 at Delaware Fairgrounds Centre Ice Arena.
Rookie John Amanatidis scored the tying goal with 8:32 remaining in regulation, with Timothy Payne assisting, and Thompson followed with the game winner, with Trevor Lord setting up the goal.
Rookie goalie Ismael Ralsten made 37 saves for Watertown, which finishes the regular season at 20-32-4.
The Wolves finish in third place in the Empire Division and will play second-place Binghamton in a first-round series, beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Watertown Municipal Arena.
Game two and game three, if necessary, will be played at Binghamton on Saturday and Sunday.
Watertown, which won the league championship last year, finishes the season having won two of its past three games, including a 3-2 shootout triumph at Elmira on Wednesday.
On Saturday, the Wolves jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period as Don Carter Jr. scored 5:36 into the game for a 1-0 lead.
After Delaware’s Houston Wilson scored at 11:02, Thompson and rookie Pier-Luc Bellard scored back-to-back goals at 15:24 and at 19:59 of the period, with Bellard’s tally a power-play goal.
But the Thunder answered by scoring a pair of power-play goals with a span of 15 seconds in the final minute of the second period from Charlie Bedard, with the first assisted by former Wolves player Rocco DiCostanzo, and the second coming with 34 seconds left in the frame to tie the game at 3-3.
Bedard then provided the Thunder with a 4-3 lead with a power-play goal 5:02 into the third period to complete his hat trick, but the Wolves rallied to tie the game on the goal from Amanatidis.
Goalie Spencer Kozlowski finished with 36 saves for Delaware (9-44-3), which finishes in last place in the division.
With the victory, Ralsten recorded his first pro win at this level.
■ On Friday night, Marquis Grant-Mentis scored a pair of goals to spark Delaware to a 5-2 victory over visiting Watertown.
Mathias Tellstrom and Kolton Maguire generated a goal each for the Wolves and goalie Adam Wisco allowed four goals on 17 shots faced over the first two periods in taking the loss.
Tellstrom received a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct and then was ejected from the game when he received a gross misconduct for verbal abuse of an official with 6:06 remaining in the game.
Tellstrom, who generated 34 points, including 13 goals in 40 games, was then suspended Saturday for 10 games by the league.
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