Though the Home Hardware Midget AAA Legionnaires more than doubled up the Notre Dame Argos Tuesday night at the Innovation Credit Union iPlex, it was a much closer and much less comfortable win than they had been hoping for.

The Legionnaires came into the third-last game of the regular season looking to lift themselves up into a tie for seventh place with the Tisdale Trojans in the SMAAAHL - a three-win Argos team with a goal differential of minus-190 stood in their way.

After a bit of a feeling-out process for both teams over the majority of the first period, the Legionnaires did manage a quick pair of goals before the first intermission to take a 2-0 lead. Tyler Council scored with a minute left, and Cash Arntsen buried a loose puck with 43 seconds to go.

The Argos came on strong in the second period to erase Swift Current's momentum.

Goals with 11:44 and 8:41 to go in the middle frame sandwiched a Tylin Hilbig strike with 9:54 remaining, as the Legionnaires' lead was trimmed to just one after 40 minutes of play.

Notre Dame opened scoring 3:13 into the third period with a powerplay goal to make it a 3-3 game.

"It's one of those games where you've got to push yourself into the game in this situation. You've got to play the right way, and you can't come in here being a cookie monster. We had cookie monster-mentality in some guys, and that's what it looks like," said Legionnaires head coach Darren Evjen.

"You just want cookies - you just want goals and assists," Evjen added, elaborating on the Sesame Street analogy.

"You don't play your game. You just [go] 'this is going to be an easy game, so I want an easy game and just want to score'. That's why you're sitting there 3-3 and fight for your life."

Swift Current did turn on the jets in the final 10 minutes to pull away though.

Quinn Strang buried the eventual game-winner with 8:28 to play, and Hilbig added his second of the game with 4:33 left.

Arntsen (1:36) and Brandon Von Hagen (0:07) scored empty-net goals in the final two minutes to give Swift the 7-3 victory.

"The guys that played hard for us, they got more ice and they did a good job - they finished it off. We put it in their hands, and took it out of some other guys' hands, and that was the good thing," Evjen said.

Jacob Herman was busy in net, making 41 saves in the win.

Now, it's a quick turnaround for the Legionnaires (21-17-1-3), as they're back in action in their final road game of the regular season tonight.

Swift Current is taking on the third-place Saskatoon Blazers (29-9-1-1) - a team that handed the Legionnaires a 7-2 loss in their previous meeting.

"We have to get a whole bunch more involved tomorrow if we're going to even be in the game," Evjen admitted. "If we're going to play like that - if we're going to play a ping pong game and not dive in - it'll be worse than the last time we played them."

That game has a 7:45 p.m. puck drop in Saskatoon.