BROOKINGS – What a difference a week makes.

Seven days after being unable to secure a playoff berth against Bismarck, the Blizzard completed a weekend sweep of Aberdeen to not only clinch a postseason spot, but moved in front of the Wings into the third seed of the Central Division playoffs.

Both teams finished with 65 points, but Brookings posted 30 wins to Aberdeen’s 29 to win the tiebreaker and secure the higher seed.

The Blizzard face the second-seeded MN Wilderness on Friday and Saturday in Cloquet, Minn., in the best of five playoff series before playing host to the Wilderness on Friday, April 21, at Larson Ice Center. If necessary, a fourth game will be played at LIC on Saturday, April 22, with the fifth game going back to the Northwood Credit Union Arena on Monday, April 24. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. for each game.

“I think that our details were a little bit better the last couple of days – maybe our ‘want’ was a little bit more,” said Blizzard head coach Dan Daikawa of his team’s turnaround. “It was a good team effort; we had good goaltending all weekend – they had chances, we had chances – it was a playoff atmosphere the whole weekend. I’m proud of the boys – we stuck together as a team and we really got the job done.

“Obviously, we needed to get hot at the right time and hopefully a couple of wins will get us ready for next weekend.”

Neither team could find the back of the net through the first two periods.

Aberdeen’s Colin Raver broke the scoreless tie less than three minutes into the third period off assists from Colton Fletcher and Nolan Sullivan, but Brookings answered within three minutes.

Taylor Schneider lit the lamp with 14:27 left in the game as John Siebenaler and Nicholas Cardelli picked up the assists.

Two minutes later, Cade Borchardt scored the go-ahead – and eventual game-winning goal – off setups from Tim Faulkner and Siebenaler and the Blizzard held off the Wings over the final 12:24 of play.

Josh Boyko earned the win in goal as he stopped 24 of the 25 shots that he faced.

Brookings went 0-of-3 on power-play chances while the Wings were 0-for-1.

Brookings 2, Aberdeen 1

Aberdeen         0 0 1 – 1

Brookings        0 0 2 – 2

First Period

Scoring: None. Penalties: B, Paul Cotter (Head Contact-major), 6:38; B, Paul Cotter (Head Contact-EJ), 6:38.

Second Period

Scoring: None. Penalties: A, Carson Dimoff (High Sticking), 5:47; A, Carson Dimoff (Roughing), 5:47; A, Logan Jenuwine (Roughing), 5:47; B, Christian Canavati (Roughing), 5:47; B, Brandon Kruse (Roughing), 5:47; B, Roman Ahcan (Cross-checking), 0:52; A, Logan Jenuwine (Embellishment/Diving), 0:52.

Third Period

Scoring: 1. Aberdeen – Colin Raver (Colton Fletcher, Nolan Sullivan), 17:16. 1. Brookings – Taylor Schneider (John Siebenaler, Nicholas Cardelli), 14:27. 2. Brookings – Cade Borchardt (Tim Faulkner, John Siebenaler), 12:24. Penalties: A, Dusan Kmec (Head Contact-Minor), 10:56; A, Carson Dimoff (Tripping), 4:58.

Shots on Goal: Aberdeen 8-12-5–25; Brookings 9-4-11–24. Power Plays: A 0-1; B 0-3. Saves: A, Forbes Ploszaj 22-24; B, Josh Boyko 24-25.