By Patrick Gordon

Alex Gajic scored three goals, including the game-winner on a power-play in overtime, and goaltender Andrew Leyshon recorded 41 saves to lead the Colorado Mammoth over the Philadelphia Wings, 12-11, in front of 8,201 fans at the Wachovia Center on Saturday.

Jamie Shewchuk’s goal with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter tied the game at 11-11 and forced the overtime period. He finished with a pair of goals and three assists in the win, Colorado’s (2-2) second in as many nights.

“It’s always fortunate to have a man advantage when you are playing in the final frame, so we got a bit of a break there,” said Mammoth head coach Steve Govett. “I was really proud of our defensive guys and our goaltender, who has been beaten up by everybody in the media and everyone else, answered the bell and in these last two games because he has played outstanding.”

Ilija Gajic finished with a pair of goals to go along with two assists, including a helper on the game-winner.

“I told Ilija to watch me because I was getting some good looks and Shewchuk did a good job dragging a defender over and he dumped it to Ilija and I was open for a good five seconds before Ilija passed it to me and I put it in,” said Alex Gajic. 

Jed Prossner and Brian Langtry chipped in with three points apiece.

The win capped off a whirlwind week for Govett, who was named interim head coach Tuesday after the Mammoth fired Bob McMahon.

“I’m just having a ton of fun right now, these guys have been great, the coaching staff has been great, the organization has been great and the guys have really responded,” Govett said.

Drew Westervelt’s goal with just over six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter pushed Philadelphia (1-2) ahead with a goal advantage and Bill McGlone’s goal with just under four minutes remaining pushed the Wings to an 11-9 lead, but the Mammoth answered back a minute later with Cliff Smith’s goal bringing the Mammoth within one.

Mat Giles netted three goals to go along with two assists in the losing effort. Westervelt and McGlone collected two goals apiece.

“I think we were up by two with three minutes left and had a chance to finish strongly but we gave up a power-play goal and then that was it,” said Wings head coach Dave Huntley. “It sure is tough to lose the games when you are up by one, but that’s what happened.”

The Mammoth scored a pair of goals within a 20-second span midway through the second quarter to jump ahead 5-3, but the Wings answered with a pair of their own before Shewchuk netted a goal with just over three minutes remaining to lead Colorado to a 6-5 halftime advantage. Shewchuk finished the evening with 13 shots on net and picked up 10 loose balls.

The Mammoth, playing on back-to-back nights, came to Philadelphia on the heels of a 15-14 overtime win in Minnesota on Friday. The win was the first of Govett’s coaching career and Colorado’s first of the season.  

“Everything that we thought we were creating in the offseason just needed a punch in the gut and I think they got it in the first two games and now we have two gutsy wins in a row,” Govett said.

Philadelphia visits Boston for a matinee next Saturday, while Colorado entertains Washington.