The Estevan Bruins longest winning streak of the season is over, but they have strengthened their hold on the eighth and final playoff spot in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).
Estevan (18-17-3-1) lost to the Yorkton Terriers 2-1 in overtime on Saturday night at Affinity Place, ending the Bruins five-game winning streak, but they have still picked up points in six straight games.
Terriers forward Chantz Petruic, who is the league’s leader in goals with 52 and points with 98, scored his second of the game with 2:33 to play in overtime to lift the Terriers to victory.
He also had a goal in the opening frame.
Troy Hamilton had the Bruins lone goal. It came midway through the third period to force overtime.
“I took it to the net hard, and then tried getting the puck as high as I could on the backhand,” said Hamilton.
The Bruins outshot the Terriers 57-26, including 23-5 in the third period. Keenan Rancier stopped 24 shots for the Bruins.
Yorkton goaltender Philippe Bond made 56 saves just four nights after he allowed six goals and was pulled in the second period in a 9-2 loss to the Bruins in Yorkton.
“He was lights out. He was their best player tonight,” said Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood. “There was no question that he was going to come into tonight’s game and play a lot better. We’ve seen him lots of times and we know he’s a good goaltender, but he didn’t have a very good game last time.”
Lewgood was pleased with the team’s effort against Yorkton, but the defensive zone play wasn’t as good as it has been recently. He cited communication as a reason.
“We seemed quiet today,” said Lewgood. “We didn’t have a lot of jump in the locker room or on the bench, and I think it filtered out onto the ice. We didn’t communicate enough and we lost our man in the defensive zone.”
He praised Rancier for his play against the dangerous offensive players on the Terriers, particularly Petruic, even though Petruic scored twice.
“I thought he had too many chances, and it was the d-zone breakdown where two guys go to one and they’re not communicating who to pick up,” said Lewgood.
The night before, the Bruins beat the Melville Millionaires 5-3. After a scoreless first period, Dayton Deics scored nine minutes into the second to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Blake Campbell scored for Melville a few minutes later to tie the game, and Aidan Steinke tallied two minutes after that to put the Millionaires ahead by one.
Tyler Savage’s power play goal with 26 seconds to play in the middle frame tied the game again.
Brady Nicholas scored 2:50 into the third to put the Bruins on top, and Eddie Gallagher tallied less than four minutes later to double the advantage. Zach McIntyre’s goal for Melville late in the third cut the Bruins lead in half, but Isaiah Thomas scored into an empty net with seven seconds left to dash any hopes of a Millionaires comeback.
Griffin Asham-Moroz had three assists for the Bruins.
Randy Cooke made 30 saves for Estevan to get his first victory in the SJHL.
Berk Berkeliev had 38 saves for Melville.
Estevan remains in the eighth and final spot in the SJHL standings with an 18-17-3-1 record and 40 points. They are four points clear of the Kindersley Klippers with two games in hand.
They are 14 points behind the Terriers for the Viterra Division lead, but the Bruins have played seven fewer games than Yorkton.
Estevan will return to the ice this weekend for a home and home against the Weyburn Red Wings. They will visit the Wings on Friday night and host their Highway 39 rivals Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
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The Bruins didn’t make any moves prior to Friday’s national junior hockey trade deadline.
Lewgood said he believes the Bruins are a team that will grow as much as any between now and the end of the regular season on Feb. 29.
“We’ve already been playing some good hockey going into the deadline. We’re not in a position to trade away our older players,” he said. “We’ve got way too good of a hockey team right now to trade our older players away for a hope and a prayer later on, and we’re certainly not going to mortgage our future for a guy we won’t know really well for this year.”
The club will carry four 20-year-olds – Tyson and Tanner Manz, Jayden Davis and Tylor Ludwar – for the rest of the season on a 23-man roster.
Lewgood said they listened to offers and considered a few options, but there wasn’t much they were actively pursuing.
