As predicted, it's been a battle.
The first two games of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League final series between the Humboldt Broncos and the Yorkton Terriers were tough ones for both teams.
The first game of the much-anticipated series was played in front of about 1,400 fans at the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt on April 5.
The first period had each team testing the other, trying to find holes in their defence. Both goalies were on their game - Matt Hrynkiw blocked seven shots from the Terriers, while Dawson MacAuley held off all eight shots from the Broncos.
Each team got a couple of power plays, but were still unable to score.
The Terriers lost defenceman Devon McMullen halfway through the first, after he earned a checking from behind penalty on a move he put on Bronco John Lawrence in the corner.
Frustration mounted on both sides throughout the first period and came to a boil in the second, when Bronco Carter Page dropped gloves with Kailum Gervais of Yorkton just five seconds after the opening faceoff.
With the first fight of the game out of the way, both teams seemed to settle in and got down to the business of scoring.
Logan Sproule scored on a power play to put the Broncos up 1-0 at 3:10 of the second. Assists went to David Stumborg and Adam Antkowiak.
It wasn't long before Humboldt added an insurance goal. Joey Davies flipped the puck into the net at 5:56 of the second, unassisted.
Yorkton was down but not out. They scored a power-play point of their own at 7:02 of the second, then earned another power-play point at 8:58 of the third to tie things up.
In what has become commonplace for the Broncos this playoff season, the game went into overtime.
But it wasn't a long overtime period.
Alex Forsberg scored the winner for Humboldt just over a minute in, assisted by Cody Pongracz.
The win put the Broncos up 1-0 in the series.
But as in Game 1, their lead would not last long.
Two nights later, the Broncos were in Yorkton, geared up for Game 2 of the series.
Once again, the entire first period went by without a goal. Bronco Matt Hrynkiw blocked all 13 shots sent his way, while Dawson MacAuley did the same for the nine the Broncos shot at him.
There was no fight to kick off the second period, but the home team did get a 2-0 lead in that 20 minutes. The Terriers scored on two more power plays at 3:42 and 11:44 before the Broncos answered back.
It was Joey Davies who put Humboldt on the scoreboard with a power-play goal of his own at 17:39 of the second. The only assist on the point went to Hrynkiw at the other end of the ice.
Yorkton added to their lead in the first 28 seconds of the third. A Humboldt goal scored by Ryan Aubertin - assists to Cody Pettapiece and Davies - at 13:46 put them within one, but despite 15 shots on net in the third, they were unable to tie the game.
It ended with another 3-2 score, but this time it was the Terriers' win.
The power play and the penalty kill have proven to be very important in this series between two well-matched teams.
The Broncos were one for four on the power play in Game 1 and one for three in Game 2, while the Terriers were two for five in the first game and two for three in the second.
Goaltending has also proved vital, with shots on goal of 36 and 24 for the Terriers in Game 1, and 37-31 for the Broncos in Game 2.
Broncos head coach Dean Brockman isn't really happy where his team is at in this series. That they are tied game for game is pretty good, he said, "considering I don't think we've played our best hockey yet."
He's not sure why the players aren't giving their all at this point, whether they're burned out from the last series, a flu bug has taken more out of the team than expected, or they've run out of emotion.
That can happen, he noted, when you're playing in overtime a lot - something that's been commonplace for the Broncos this playoff season.
"I'm not sure if we've played our best, and I'm not sure if we're going to get our best," he said. At this point, he's just hoping that things work out.
Yorkton has shown that their defencemen are good at moving the puck, and they skate well. The Broncos have had trouble controlling Brady Norrish, Brockman noted.
"They're doing a lot of the little things right.... keeping the game simple. We're trying to make it harder on ourselves."
There's a little chess being played, he noted, especially in the first periods of the first two games.
"That's bad for us. We just need to play. Just play," he said. "We're thinking too much and not reacting."
Brockman is happy with his team's defensive play.
"We haven't given up a lot of goals, which is important when you're not scoring a lot of goals," he said. "We're trying to generate some things... but we haven't generated a lot."
The Broncos are doing a good job of keeping the Terriers where they should be, he explained, "but we're chasing them. They should be chasing us."
Game 3 of the series was played in Humboldt on April 9, and Game 4 is set for Yorkton on April 11.
For Game 3, Brockman wanted to see his players take control of the ice and the play.
"We need to skate and move our feet a lot better... And make sure we are really effective in our work ethic."
