After going a week without playing, the Estevan Bruins lost a pair of road games on the weekend to fall to 1-2 on the young Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season.
A day after an uninspiring 3-1 loss to the Notre Dame Hounds on Saturday, the Bruins turned in a better effort in Yorkton but a third-period comeback fell short in a 7-5 defeat against the Terriers.
Sunday's contest was tied 2-2 after 40 minutes, but three Yorkton goals in the first half of the third put the Bruins in a hole.
They responded with three goals in a span of 3:44, courtesy of Calder Neufeld - his second of the night - Dylan Smith and Cole Olson.
"They did what they do. When we were down early in the third, they turned it on and got us back in there," head coach Keith Cassidy said of his top line.
The trio combined for eight points in the game.
Jamie Vlanich gave Yorkton the lead again with 2:57 to play, and Ryon Sookro netted an insurance marker with 49 seconds left.
Of the Terriers' five markers in the final frame, four of them came on the power play.
"Despite the 47 minutes in penalties, I can't honestly say that our guys were undisciplined," said Cassidy.
Estevan's other goal came from Tanner Froese in the second period.
Kyle McLeod, Jamie Johnson, Sookro, Curtis Oliver and Justin Lamontagne also chipped in for Yorkton.
Cassidy said the intensity of Sunday's game was much higher than the previous night, when the Bruins managed just nine shots in the first two periods.
"I was extremely pleased with our effort level. I think our guys battled hard."
Derek Whitehill made his SJHL debut against the Dogs and, playing with Josh Jelinski and Matt Dochylo, left an impression.
"Their line was dominant. They spent most of their time in the other team's zone. They did whatever they wanted to in the other team's zone except put the puck in the net."
Saturday's outing in Wilcox left a lot to be desired. Notre Dame got two goals from Brandon Millin and another from Dayton Shaw, all in the second period.
The Bruins' only tally came from defenceman Austin Yano on a power play point
shot in the third, his first SJHL goal.
The Black and Gold threw 16 shots at Hounds goalie Ty Reichenbach in the third, but it wasn't enough to make up for an ugly first 40 minutes.
"This is certainly one that we should have won and hopefully at the end of the year that doesn't come back to haunt us," Cassidy said.
"I saw some incredibly ridiculous stuff out there in terms of effort and that will be addressed. I mean, we've got the maximum number of players here. Anybody that thinks they can float their way onto this team, it's not happening, there's too many hard workers."
This year's team was built for ice surfaces like the one at Duncan McNeill Arena in Wilcox, but the Bruins failed to take advantage.
"Speed doesn't come without moving your feet. If you're standing around waiting for things to happen, as we did far too often, you're going to wind up on the wrong end of a 3-1 score. That's not going to happen too many times this year," Cassidy said.
He added that his team "took some dumb penalties" and that resulted in one power play goal for the Hounds, as well as two others shortly after they had expired.
Defenceman Dominic Perrault sat out Sunday's game with swelling in his foot after blocking a shot late in the Notre Dame tilt, but he was expected to play last night against the Humboldt Broncos.
The Bruins will host the Hounds on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
