If defense wins championships, the Humboldt Broncos have the defensive blueprint after stifling the Estevan Bruins for 60 minutes in their 2-0 win in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Humboldt.
The Jan. 30 shutout victory was just the Broncos’ second of the season, and marked the first time all season that the Bruins had been shutout.
The Broncos’ defense was terrific throughout the contest allowing just eight shots a period, with many of those coming on power plays.
Part of that stout defense came from goaltender Parker Tobin, who was terrific when called upon turning aside all 24 shots he faced for his first career junior hockey shutout.
“It’s been a long time coming but it was good to get it on home ice and against a good Estevan team,” noted Tobin of his first career shutout.
Despite the terrific effort, the game did not get off to the best of starts for the home team as they found themselves behind 5-2 on the shot clock early in the contest.
As the first period wore on, the Broncos began to find their legs and were rewarded as Conner Lukan scored his 13th of the year, on the power play, to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead after the first period.
After giving up five of the game’s first seven shots, the Broncos rebounded terrifically outshooting the Bruins 8-3 down the stretch and 10-8 overall.
After scoring with just 1:31 to play in the first period the Broncos carried that momentum over to the second and were rewarded instantly as Jacob Leicht notched his fourth of the year just 1:01 into the period giving the Broncos a 2-0 lead.
From there the Broncos tightened the screws defensively allowing not much in the way of Bruins offense save for a third period breakaway.
Holding the Bruins scoreless is a big accomplishment for the Broncos, which was thanks in large part to the players putting themselves in the right positions, noted Tobin.
“We were boxing out in front of the net and giving me good sightlines to the puck. Then when we weren’t doing that we were blocking a lot of shots and just forcing guys out of the middle of the ice. And when they did get chances we were there to clear away rebounds.”
The Broncos wrapped up the evening holding a 38-24 edge in shots.
With Tobin facing just eight shots a period, focus can sometimes wander for goaltenders, which is something Tobin says he has been working on to prepare for games like this.
“Part of maturing as a goalie is being able to stay locked into the game no matter what happens because you never know when you’re going to be called on to make a big save. You can have 15 shots but all of them are easy or no shots and then you get a break away and things can change so quick,” said Tobin who noted he felt there was plenty of action at both ends of the rink.
