Brett Lewchuk had some unfinished business with the Melville Millionaires.
On Thursday, he and the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins had another crack at their division rivals, and the night ended with Lewchuk getting his first shutout in three years.
In their third meeting of the young season, the Bruins blanked the Millionaires 2-0 at Affinity Place, getting revenge for a pair of losses to start the year.
"It's huge for me. I haven't gotten one in about three years, so right now the feeling is pretty surreal," Lewchuk said of the goose egg.
However, his focus was primarily on the win, a crucial one for the Bruins after a rocky start to the season.
"Two points right now for our team is huge. Like our coach just said in there, (a) 2-4 (record) is a lot better than 1-5."
He said the team's blue line had a lot to do with the shutout.
"I think my d-men were just letting me see all the pucks. I didn't really have to make too many difficult saves. They were blocking shots all night."
Despite the final result, the Bruins' start to the game was anything but ideal.
"I thought we were really bad in the first. It was one of the worst periods I've seen this season and I was pretty worried about tonight's effort," said Bruins head coach Chris Lewgood. "After a good, long visit between the first and second, our guys really responded, and I thought the second period was the best period of the night for us. We continued to make the odd mistake, but when you're working hard, you can sometimes skate through those mistakes.
"I just think we were a little bit off to start the game. I'm not sure what it was. It was one of our best warmups. We've preached having a good warmup and we had one of our best warmups of the year where the guys were into it. You could see their focus in doing things the right way, and yet we had a slow start to the game. I thought as the night went on, we felt a lot more confident in our game and our guys started to think they were here to take the game to Melville and not the other way around," Lewgood added.
The tables turned in the second period, as the Bruins outshot the Mils 17-4. However, the game remained scoreless after 40 minutes.
Lewgood said the Bruins drew some energy from a shift early in the second.
"The one I thought was a game-changer was the first shift in the second, where Darcy DeRoose takes a big hit at the half-wall to make a play coming out of his zone, and we were able to pin them in deep and get some opportunities. That's what was missing in the first, the willingness to sacrifice for teammates, and I thought Darcy set the tone at the start of the second."
Lewchuk didn't have a lot to do in the second period. In order to keep his focus on the game, he played the puck whenever he could and talked to his defencemen when they were in their own zone.
"My team did a great job in the second. Limiting them to four shots is pretty crazy," Lewchuk said.
The Bruins finally broke through in the third period.
At the 2:30 mark, Ryan Duret sent a pass across the front of the net intended for Chase McKersie, but it went off a defenceman and in the net to get the Bruins on the board.
Later in the period, defenceman Josh Rieger caught Mils goalie Josh Bykowski off guard, scoring on a wraparound from his knees.
"It was a great play. I think he was caught in the zone a little long, but he made the most of it. You got a glimpse at what kind of skill he possesses. For a defenceman, he's a pretty heads-up guy with the puck," Lewgood said.
The coach added his starting goaltender had an "awesome" game.
"I thought Lewy struggled to contain pucks in the first period and there were too many pucks lying around the crease area, but I'd rather have that trouble than making saves, and then he corrected that in the second and third. He was lights out for us tonight."
The game marked the regular season debut for defenceman Zach Douglas, who missed the team's first five games recovering from a broken collarbone.
"It's nice to have him back," Lewgood said.
Meanwhile, two other players are still out with injuries.
Lewgood said forward Keegan Allison (shoulder) was unlikely to play in last night's contest against the Melfort Mustangs, but could play during a home-and-home series with the Weyburn Red Wings this weekend.
Meanwhile, recently acquired forward Taylor Ross (ankle) is at least a week away.
The Bruins and Red Wings will face off Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Affinity Place, followed by a game in Weyburn the next night.
