(TOPEKA, KS) -  The Topeka RoadRunners took another step toward the South Division crown by pumping in 4 unanswered goals on Thursday night to stun the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 5-3.

The game was technically a "home game" for Fairbanks, per agreement reached between the two clubs. There was no pregame hoopla, no dimming of the lights for player introductions, no goal horn, and a roped off perimeter behind the Ice Dogs bench. Fairbanks looked confident and comfortable from the beginning, taking a page out of the Topeka playbook and blocking shots and executing a stifling defense. In the first period, the teams combined for only 9 shots on goal between them, but one was a pretty redirection by Fairbanks' Eric Kraft, who won a faceoff in the offensive zone cleanly back to the point where Peter Kavaya took a shot that Kraft himself got a stick on, tipping it up over the leg pad of Bryce Merriam for a 1-0 lead.

In the second period, Nick Guran made a slick move at the blue line slipping behind a RoadRunner defenseman and picking the top glove side corner for a 2-0 lead. Topeka only needed :33 seconds to respond, though, as Travis Stevens knocked home a doorstep rebound to make it a 2-1 game.  Fairbanks added a power play goal at 15:20 as Jon Waggoner launched a snappy wrister over the glove side shoulder of Merriam for a 3-1 lead. Late in the second period, though, Topeka's Irom Man Reed Seckel (who is the only RR to play in every single game this year) fought his way through two defenders, and while falling and sliding, swatted the puck toward the net where it was batted in out of mid-air by Corey Jendras. The goal came with less than a minute to go in the second period, and Topeka had all the momentum heading into the 3rd.

However, the third period started out with Fairbanks continuing to slow down the potent RoadRunners offense. The momentum factor had subsided and both teams were playing strong, gritty, hard-hitting playoff hockey. It was that muck-and-grind style that led to the game tying goal, as Eriah Hayes fought for the puck in the corner, won the battle, and threw it toward the net where it hit the side, just outside the post to the left of Cody Reichard. Bryon Paulazzo was right there to jam it around the corner and in to tie the game at 3-3 with 5:46 left to play. Reinvigorated, the RoadRunners began to swarm, and with only 1:24 remaining, Jordan George slipped out of the right wing corner, and buried a low shot past Reichard for a 4-3 lead, whipping the modestly sized but extremely vocal crowd into a frenzy. The Ice Dogs pulled Reichard for the extra attacker, a ploy that has worked in the past against the 'Runners, but this time, Aaron Gens forced a bouncing puck past Peter Kavaya at the Topeka blue line, sending Eriah Hayes through the neutral zone and in to pot the empty netter and cement the victory for the RoadRunners.

The series continues on Friday night with Game 4 set for 7:05 pm. Topeka looks to earn their first ever berth in the Robertson Cup Tournament with a win, while Fairbanks fights to stave off elimination and force a decisive Game 5 on Sunday.