If hockey was just a game of shooting the puck at the net, the Power Dodge Estevan Bruins would have won Wednesday night’s game handily.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, Notre Dame’s Andrew Henderson stood on his head in the Hounds net and the Bruins fired 57 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss.
“I think that team shot seven shots five on five and managed to score three goals,” said Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood. “I think at the end of the day we’ve just got to find a way to win. We keep finding ways to lose games instead of finding ways to win. Fifty-six shots on goal or whatever it was on the scoreclock. We don’t score enough goals. We’ve just got to find ways to score.”
Only 21 seconds into the second period, Michael McChesney tied the game at 1-1 early in the second on a neat chip shot past Henderson when he outskated a Hounds defenceman to the puck. Rookie Ryder Pierson’s goal at 3:21 of the third period broke the tie on a clean wristshot from the slot.
“It felt pretty good to finally score a goal at home at give the boys the lead at the time,” said Pierson. “It just sucks we didn’t pull out the win tonight.”
That same line of Pierson, Tyson Manz and Jerzy Martin was out for the 2-2 goal by the Hounds’ Jakob Breault at 5:07.
Henderson was solid all night when it came to the first shots he’d face – and he faced a lot of them by the end of the night.
“We just kept throwing shots and the net and they just finally started to go in,” said Pierson.
Lewgood felt it wasn’t a lack of shots that led to the loss.
“We got a lot of shots on the goaltender and to me we’re not capitalizing on second chances,” Lewgood said. “I think we’ve got to do a better job of attacking rebounds.”
Bruins forward Tristyn DeRoose knocked a puck in behind Henderson on the power play at 11:35 of the third to give the Bruins the lead it seemed like the deserved but with Henderson pulled, Jarrett Penner scored for the Hounds with 52 seconds left in regulation.
After birthday Bruin Jayden Davis hit the crossbar in overtime, the Hounds’ Marshall Wilton scored at 2:16 of the extra frame.
Jake Anthony stopped 22 of 26 shots in the Bruins net.
The Bruins next action is Friday night at home against Melville.
