The Estevan Apex Bruins wrapped up one of their strongest weekends of the season by salvaging a tie against the first-place Swift Current Hurricanes on Sunday at Spectra Place.
The 3-3 draw against the top team in the South Saskatchewan Minor Hockey League came one day after the Bruins drubbed the Regina Wild 8-1.
With the two wins, the midget AA squad now sits at 9-4-4, four points behind the second-place Notre Dame Hounds with two games in hand.
Sunday's tie was only the fourth game all year that the Hurricanes (14-2-1) have not won.
Dylan Herzberg went backhand on a shorthanded breakaway with 3:35 left in regulation to secure the draw.
"That was a real good effort on his part. He blocked the shot. We were penalty killing," said Apex Bruins head coach Tim Lequyer. "We haven't had a whole lot of blocked shots this year and every time we've gotten the kids to do that, we've had good results on them."
Swift Current opened the scoring at 12:29 of the first period when Keegan Braaten scored on a scramble in front of the net.
The Bruins tied it at the 7:45 mark of the second when Chase McKersie circled out of the corner, fired a shot and Ryan Frehlick was there to knock in the rebound. But the Hurricanes would regain the lead less than three minutes later when George Hudec scored from the high slot on a power play.
"They were pressing us pretty good there for the middle part of the game, but the kids showed lots of character and came back," said Lequyer.
Estevan drew even again at 11:27 of the third when Blaine Herzberg stickhandled from his knees in the slot and managed to beat goalie Kyle Garland in a highlight-reel effort.
Only 76 seconds later though, a floater from the point by Hayden Johnston got through Bruins goalie Levi Eiteneier to give Swift Current a 3-2 lead that would hold until Herzberg's breakaway goal.
Lequyer said his team had lots of scoring chances and could have won the game, but he believes earning a tie against the Hurricanes will pay dividends for his team's confidence.
"The kids got more comfortable playing against them and figuring out that they do belong in the top three in the league," he said. "It shows a lot of promise for where we're going to go. We've had some struggles through the start of the year with some ties and some losses to some other teams. So when we come out and play and hold our own with these guys, I think it's going to be huge for the kids."
On Saturday, the Bruins scored four times in the second period to fuel a blowout victory over the Wild (5-6-4).
Dylan Herzberg scored twice for Estevan, which also got goals from Kale Little, Zach Paxman, Steven Henderson, Brad Tomiski, Kaelum Bieber and McKersie. Herzberg, Little, Bieber and Branden Lequyer each added two assists. Noah Picton had the lone goal for Regina late in the third period.
"I think the best thing about that was the fact that we played a complete team game and we didn't get into any individual play at all," Lequyer said of Saturday's win. "They played the same game right from the start to the finish. I think that's important and it shows that they can be consistent."
