The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins scored nine goals for the second straight home game in a 9-2 victory over the Notre Dame Hounds on Tuesday night at Affinity Place.
Jayden Davis scored 56 seconds into the game to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead, and then Arthur Miller, Tanner Manz and Michael McChesney tallied in short order to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead 4:06 into the game. Notre Dame's Jared Hamm scored 91 seconds later to make the score 4-1. Neither team scored again in the opening frame.
Kaelan Holt and Matthew Chekay scored for the Bruins in the opening 2:25 of the second, and Miller added his second of the game midway through the frame.
After a goal by the Hounds Jack Flaman, Jerzy Martin scored late in the second to put the Bruins up by six.
The Bruins Johnny Witzke notched the only goal of the third period.
Matt Lukacs stopped 20 shots to get the win.
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The Black and Gold ran a bit hot and cold on the weekend, firing anything and everything at the net Friday in a 9-0 win over the Yorkton Terriers and then dropping a 4-3 decision in Yorkton the following night.
The Bruins Friday had every single skater get at least one point and the goaltender – Bo Didur — get a shutout.
“I thought we were steady, played three zones,” said Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood. “Our puck management was excellent tonight, maybe the best we’ve seen all year. Goaltending was great but we didn’t get tested a lot so it was a good chance for Bo to get his feet wet and test out the SJHL.
“At the end of the day it was 18 guys contributing on skates and a goaltender in net so that’s what you ask of the guys.”
TJ Irey opened the scoring at 7:52 of the first period, with Manz, Jake Tesarowski and Holt scoring before the end of the period. Jake Fletcher scored in the second and then McChesney scored a pair in the third, along with Mark Edmands and Irey for his second of the game.
“The best part about it was how they scored,” Lewgood said. “They didn’t cheat once to get those goals. It was all playing the game the right way. Simple defence-first-minded. Putting pucks to the net and going hard for rebounds. Simple hockey and no real risks taken to get that offence.”
Irey was on the power play late in the game seeking that third goal for the hat trick.
“I was a little nervous out there,” laughed Irey. “I heard coach say go out there with Gobey (Zach Goberis) and I’m like OK. Gobey and (Arthur) Miller will go out there and get the puck on my stick and they tried all their best. If I didn’t get it, it was alright. It was still a fun game.”
“He played the game the right way from the first shift of the game,” said Lewgood of Irey. “We wanted to get him that reward.”
Friday was the second game at home in a row where the Irey line had gotten the Bruins on the scoreboard.
“I’ve been with (Matthew) Chekay since pretty near the beginning of the year and we have a lot of chemistry,” Irey said. “Jerzy Martin is one of my best buddies from back in the States and when we go out on the ice we play the body and good things happen.”
The team’s ability to focus at the start was caused in part by their loss to the Terriers at home a week and a half ago.
“We definitely need to play at the top of our game,” said McChesney. “If we play at that pace and that level of hockey every game, we’re a good team.”
When the game Friday was out of reach, Lewgood said getting Didur the shutout was a driving factor to stay focused.
“We had something to play for,” Lewgood said of Didur’s 24-save shutout. “Even the coaches, with (Aren Miller) giving it to one of the linesmen on offside with three minutes left. He wanted that shutout for Bo. He’s been a good teammate so far and worked his butt off in practice.”
Yorkton goaltender Joe Marcouiller faced 64 Bruins shots in the game.
The Bruins followed that effort up with a 2-0 lead early Saturday in Yorkton on goals from Goberis and Holt. Perhaps their inability to get the third goal hurt the team but the Terriers came back with a second period goal and wouldn’t go away. Miller scored at 7:44 of the second but that was all the Bruins could muster past Yorkton goaltender Ben Laidlaw, who hadn’t won a game in nine appearances going into Saturday.
Didur stopped 32 of 36 Terriers shots in the loss.
The Bruins will play the Melville Millionaires at home Friday at 7:30 p.m. and finish off their pre-Christmas schedule in Melville Saturday.
