It looks like the Estevan Bruins are starting to find their mojo.
The club picked up their second straight high-scoring victory Friday night at Affinity Place, and it was not an easy one.
Against a hot Battlefords North Stars team having won five of its last six, the Bruins took the lead four times. However, the Stars refused to go away, culminating with the equalizer with 43 seconds left, when Michael Statchuk pounded a point shot that was going wide, but went off Jake McMillen at the side of the net and in.
Earlier this season, the black and gold might have faltered under those circumstances. A less confident team likely would have gone down to defeat, perhaps in a similar fashion as the 5-2 loss to the Nipawin Hawks on Nov. 9.
But it's a testament to the shift this team has undergone -- the increase in confidence and players stepping into bigger roles and realizing what they're capable of -- that they fought back and won it on a Charlie Manley goal late in overtime.
The overtime period itself was another example of resilience. A few seconds in, Lynnden Pastachak was tripped on the rush, with no call. The Stars proceeded to dominate possession for most of the extra frame, with Tyler Gutenberg standing tall.
Then Pastachak was tripped again in the slot and this time it resulted in a power play. Jason Duret fired it on net, Keegan Allison lunged forward and it looked like he would poke it in a couple of times, one of them going off the post. Then, with utter chaos in front, the puck skittered back to Manley at the half wall and he wristed it right back and into the net.
Not long ago, I don't believe the club would have had the resilience to come back and get the two points. We've seen it several times where a few things go wrong and things can get out of hand - the Flin Flon loss prime among them.
Now, however, the Bruins have scored 10 goals in their last two games. They're playing better defensive hockey and the line of Duret-Pastachak-Allison is coming up big again, much like last year's playoffs.
After a slow start, Pastachak has now scored three goals in his last four games. He's starting to find his confidence again and creating open space for himself. His goal tonight, which for a while was standing up as the winner, was a thing of beauty off the rush, and you could see its meaning in his celebration.
David Robertson, Josh Rieger and Wyatt Garagan had the other Bruins goals. Brady O'Sullivan (2), Connor Sych and McMillen replied for a feisty Stars club.
Some people have made the point to me that the team is now scoring and winning after trading Darcy DeRoose, and later Brett Lewchuk. That's silly thinking. DeRoose was the team's best offensive player. Rather, it's younger players filling bigger roles now and realizing what they can do out there. Tonight, you saw guys like Taylor Ross -- who I thought played his best game as a Bruin -- as well as Kurt Sonne and Chase McKersie play significant roles in the bottom six. It's a matter of confidence, as it is for a lot of first-year SJHLers, and now you're seeing what the power of belief in oneself can do.
As Chris Lewgood said after the game, you can't pinpoint it to these two games after the trades. The coaching staff has noticed a turnaround since the beginning of the month. The team is starting to get contributions up and down the lineup.
Speaking of which, it has been a strange few days for Tyler Gutenberg, first having his netminding partner Brett Lewchuk traded on Wednesday, then it being a little unclear who would come in to replace him and when, culminating with the acquisition of Tyler Fuhr on Thursday night. Gutenberg has gotten more starts than usual for a rookie backup, and in many of them he has shone, including tonight, with his team being outshot 39-24. The coaching staff is very happy with his work so far.
Lewgood has preached since the start of the year that better days are coming, and the club as we see it now is not what it will be later, in terms of potential and results. Now we're starting to see that turnaround, and a big part of it is scoring, as that's an area the team has really struggled with. But we're now seeing the scoring coming from many sources, including three goals from the back end tonight.
By no means am I saying it's sunshine and lollipops from here on out. It will not be easy. There will still be plenty of challenges. There won't be a meteoric rise up the standings, and there will still be setbacks and struggles from time to time. But the Bruins are finally hitting an uptick in performance and showing that it is, indeed, a team capable of more.
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By the way, thanks to Aren Miller for this fantastic photo of him on draft day in 1996 with Ken Holland and Scotty Bowman. A beauty from the archives!
