The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins dropped the first two games of their best-of-seven Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League semifinal series with the Battlefords North Stars.
Battlefords took Game 1 7-4 on Friday night and Game 2 5-1 on Saturday. Both games were played in North Battlefords.
Game 1 saw the North Stars jump out to a 3-0 lead before the game was 14 minutes old, thanks to two goals by Owen Lamb and a marker by Reed Delainey. The Bruins responded with goals by Jason Miller and Michael McChesney to pull to within a goal.
Goals by the North Stars Coby Downs and Ryan Rosengren in the second period restored their three-goal advantage after two periods.
The score remained 5-2 until late in the third, when Delainey scored with less than five minutes to play to pad the Stars lead. Isaac Embree and McChesney scored to pull the Bruins to within two, but Delainey notched an empty net with 16 seconds to play.
The two teams combined for 136 minutes in penalties in Game 1.
Battlefords raced out to a 4-1 lead in the first period in Game 2. Keaton Holinaty and Layne Young scored in the opening 8:12 to give the Stars a 2-0 lead. Kaelan Holt pulled the Bruins to within one with a goal 12 minutes into the first, but Logan Nachtegaele's marker 11 seconds later restored the two-goal lead, and Ben Allen's goal just over two minutes later upped the lead to three.
Connor Logan scored with less than four minutes to play in the second to round out the scoring.
The third period was delayed due to ice problems in North Battleford. Neither team managed to score in the final period.
Nathan Alalouf started both games for the Bruins. He stopped 48 of 54 shots he faced in Game 1, and 28 of 33 shots in the first two periods of Game 2. Curtis Meger came in for the third period, and stopped all 15 shots he faced.
Taryn Kotchorek stopped 18 of 22 shots for the Stars in Game 1, and Joel Grzybowski made 24 saves in Game 2.
The next two games will be at Affinity Place in Estevan. Game 3 is Monday night, and Game 4 is on Tuesday. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.
