NIPAWIN — It was an emotional evening, and unfortunately for the Nipawin Hawks, that emotion did not yield positive results as they fell 5-2 in Game 1 of the SJHL finals against the Estevan Bruins
The April 14 game was the Hawks’ first since an emotional 6-5 triple overtime win over the Humboldt Broncos on April 4.
It also marked the first SJHL contest since the league was temporarily shutdown following a tragic bus accident, which claimed the lives of 16 Broncos staff and players, and injured 13 others.
Prior to puck drop, both teams participated in a touching pre-game ceremony honouring both the Broncos, and the first responders.
Once the ceremony concluded both teams had the unenviable task of getting back to playing hockey.
It was the Hawks who managed their emotions better in the early stages of the contest as they drew the game’s opening penalty just 2:57 in when Johnny Witzke was sent off for tripping.
With the extra man, the Hawks made the Bruins pay, as Josh McDougall blasted home a one-timer from the point, off a nifty feed from Grant Baetsen, putting the home side in front 1-0.
Doug Johnson, the Hawks’ head coach, said it was nice to see the club get off to a quick start, noting there was some internal concern about how the first five or 10 minutes would go.
“It turned out we had no need to be worried because the guys came out and battled hard right off the hop.”
That lead was short lived however, as Kaelan Holt notched a power play marker of his own 2:29 later, pulling the Bruins into a 1-1 tie with the Hawks.
The game remained tied until Jordan Simoneau banged home his second goal of the playoffs, giving the Hawks a 2-1 lead at 4:12 of the second period.
Much like in period one, the Hawks could not extend their lead to two and it cost them as Jayden Davis scored at 12:24 of the second period to tie the score at 2.
Arthur Miller added his sixth of the playoffs with just 38 seconds left, giving the Bruins their first lead of the game as they took a 3-2 lead into the third period.
The Hawks pushed for the equalizer in the final frame, firing 22 shots at Bruins netminder Bo Didur, but could not beat the 20-year-old as Didur turned aside each of the 22 shots he faced, while Michael McChesney and Zach Goberis added empty netters, giving the Bruins the 5-2 win.
Missed opportunities, and bad mistakes was the difference in the contest, admitted Johnson, who said his club needed to take advantage of their opportunities, like Estevan was able to do.
“We never questioned the work ethic, never questioned the desire it was just some mistakes that were one offs. A bad bounce here, a misplayed puck there, not getting a puck deep, not reading the play right things that really we haven’t done except early in the year,” he said.
“I firmly believe that Estevan didn’t beat us. They won the game but they didn’t beat us – we beat ourselves.”
Declan Hobbs was charged with the loss in the Hawks goal allowing three goals on 28 shots for just his third loss of the playoffs, as the Hawks outshot the Bruins 43-30.
While they were able to win the shot battle, the Hawks came out on the losing end of the special teams battle as the Bruins were a perfect 1-for-1 with the man advantage, while the Hawks were just 1-for-4.
