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Bruins split weekend against Battlefords, Humboldt

The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins took almost a full period to score Saturday against the Humboldt Broncos in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action but once they did there was little stopped them.
Davis
Power Dodge Estevan Bruins forward Jayden Davis tried to go around a Humboldt defenceman Saturday night at Affinity Place.

The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins took almost a full period to score Saturday against the Humboldt Broncos in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action but once they did there was little stopped them.

The Bruins won 6-3 on Teddy Bear Toss night at Affinity Place, with Arthur Miller's goal at 17:21 sending the crowd into cheers and the bears and stuffed animals on the ice. And the Bruins didn't stop scoring until newest team member Jayden Davis notched an empty net goal with 1:20 left on the clock.

“Getting back in the systems, I felt really comfortable tonight (Saturday),” said Davis, who played last season with the Bruins but just returned to the team after playing 11 with the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes. “It's just going to keep getting better every night.”

The Bruins got offence in the second period from Miller and Hayden Guilderson and withstood an early third period goal by Humboldt to dominate the rest of the final period on goals by Kaelan Holt, Jake Fletcher and Davis.

“I think we just played well defensively and then our offence kind of came with playing hard in our own end and doing things the right way,” said Davis.

Davis' linemates have been TJ Irey and Guilderson the first two games and with his hard-hitting style, Davis has fit in well with them. Moreover, Davis is back at home where he feels comfortable as well.

“I missed it and there's a lot of good guys here,” said Davis. “It's really good.”

The game came a night after a 5-4 home loss to the Battlefords Stars.

“At the end of the day I didn't think there was a lot different in our effort,” said Bruins head coach and general manager Lewgood of Saturday's game against Humboldt. “I think we eliminated some of the big mistakes we had (Friday) night and that's the difference between winning and losing.”

The team still has tons of depth, rotating out players on the fourth line and the entire third pairing (plus one) on the defence. Everyone will see some time, most likely, Lewgood said, even as rookies like Jerzy Martin, Jack Kilroy and Andrew Warhoftig have been unable to secure regular icetime, and players like Tanner Manz and Tyson Manz have been shuffled in and out at times.

“I thought Jerzy Martin's elevated his game over his last few outings and has become a much improved player in all three zones,” Lewgood said. “And I think the Manz boys, (it's) really tough to pull them out of the lineup after (Friday) night after their continual efforts. At the end of the day we were chasing the game against Battleford and that line didn't get a lot of ice time because we're not going to pursue with them on offense. But when they were out there, they were excellent. It was really hard pulling them out but today was a game where we thought we could get some other guys some action and we've got good team guys.”

Friday's goal-scorers were Jake Tesarowski, Holt, Michael McChesney and Miller. Matt Lukacs stopped 23 shots in the loss.

The Bruins' next action is this week with another four games in five nights. After Tuesday's battle in Nipawin, they will take on La Ronge Wednesday, Flin Flon Friday and Melfort Saturday, closing out their road visits to that division until, potentially, the playoffs.

“We've got to go up there and get six points. That's our goal,” said Lewgood. “We'll shoot for two points every night and if we come back with six we'll probably be happy with that.”

“It's going to be busy but hopefully we'll go up there and get a win streak,” said Davis.

The Bruins are still an offensive juggernaut, with SJHL leading scorer Zach Goberis leading the way with 40 points and four other members in the top ten in league scoring (McChesney, Fletcher, Holt and Guilderson. Their next home game will be Nov. 29 against Yorkton, which marks the halfway point in the season.