The Estevan TS&M bantam AA Bruins played the Saskatoon Outlaws to a hard-fought 3-3 tie at Affinity Place on Saturday.
Tom Copeland, head coach of the Bruins, said the Outlaws (5-0-1) status as the top team in the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League’s tough North Division was evident on the ice with some of their high-end talent causing the home side fits in their own end. He said the Bruins caught a couple breaks and some bad luck in the draw thanks to a few hit crossbars by both sides, but they kept battling throughout only to suffer a couple letdowns on two short stretches.
“It’s a five-minute penalty early in the game and the one minute in the second period where we just let off the gas,” said Copeland, noting their goaltender Zane Winter deserves a lot of credit for the earned point. “The kids played a pretty good hockey game tonight compared to what we’ve been playing. Obviously, they’re learning from their mistakes and they’re starting to pick it up.”
The Bruins (0-3-1) jumped out to a quick start pressuring the Outlaws in their own zone with captain Cale Adams coming closest to putting the Black and Gold on the board first by ringing a shot off the post just over two minutes into the game. Penalty trouble, including the five-minute major to Kaiden Tuchscherer halfway through the first period, shifted the momentum onto the opposition side with Michael Flaman capitalizing off an offensive zone faceoff win by streaking past the defence, dragging the puck cross crease and sliding it into the corner of the net low stick side.
The Outlaws came out strong in the middle frame hemming the Bruins in their own end for long stretches only to fall into penalty trouble midway through the period. Adams got the tying goal just after a successful Outlaws kill with about nine minutes to go by tipping a Josh Romanyk shot high glove side on Saskatoon goalie Pierson Marquette. Cody Davis made it 2-1 Bruins on the man advantage a little under three minutes later when he deflected a centering pass by Riley Niven into the net from the top of the crease.
Saskatoon got that goal back with 1:18 remaining in the second period with Flaman tipping a Benjamin Zerebeski shot from the slot. The Outlaws controlled the play right off the ensuing faceoff resulting in Charlie Keller wiring the go-ahead goal low glove side with two seconds remaining.
Danton Danielson, head coach of the Outlaws, said they have a couple really strong lines up front spearheaded by James Form, Flaman and Tyson Wouters who are patient with the puck and can move it around in a cycle down low as well as using their defencemen up top who can get it into the middle and to the net. He said their ability to recover pucks after that sequence tires other teams out and allows them more time to apply pressure.
“When we can string a couple good high-intensity shifts together and play in their end sometimes that’s when breakdowns are going to occur,” said Danielson. “You get them in their zone, keep them in there for a little while and any team that (plays) defence for awhile in their own end ends up giving up a few chances.”
The Outlaws began the third period like they ended the second by applying pressure in the Bruins offensive zone, but fell into a lull midway through the frame. Adams earned a break on the miscue racing down the side unimpeded and wiring a shot far side from the bottom of the faceoff circle to tie the game at three with 6:08 remaining. Saskatoon stepped up the pressure in the final minutes of the third period and during the four-on-four five-minute overtime session, but could not beat Winter.
Copeland said the club will play some important games against their South Division opponents at home this weekend with the Notre Dame Hounds (0-2) and Prairie Storm (1-1) coming to Affinity Place along with the North Division’s Prince Albert Venice House Pirates (2-2). He said the Bruins want a divisional top-four spot come the end of the season and they’ll need to put on a good showing to start to make that happen.
“After the month of October we basically go on the road until January and in this league it’s a big difference between playing on the road and playing at home,” said Copeland. “You could see that tonight. We were able to match things up and do things that we wanted to do.”
