After playing one of their best games of the season on Nov. 19 in a 4-2 win over the Melville Millionaires, Saturday's 4-1 loss to the Humboldt Broncos was particularly disappointing for the coaching staff of the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins.
Not long after the final buzzer sounded on Saturday, the players headed right back out on the ice in practice jerseys.
"I think as a staff, we're more disappointed because we worked on a lot of stuff this week and we really concentrated on getting pucks to the net and driving hard to the net, and we had five or six drop passes tonight where we had good chances to shoot the puck on net. We don't do that in practice, we don't expect it in games," said Bruins assistant coach Aren Miller.
"We've been preaching to these guys that it takes 60 minutes and 20 guys to go hard. You can't play 25 minutes out of a game and only have 10 guys going and expect to win."
While the Bruins had no issues creating offensive pressure and outshot the Broncos 38-34, it was Humboldt capitalizing on their chances, and mistakes by the Bruins helped their cause.
"A couple of their goals were just lack of effort more than anything. It wasn't a mental breakdown, it was a 50-50 puck where we just didn't get it. That costs you. You can't have that, especially in our rink," Miller said.
"Their first goal, bad change, we get caught. Second goal, just a horrible backcheck, their guy beats us to the net and puts it in. The third goal, same thing, the puck's in the crease and their guy wins a 50-50 battle. Goals like that come down to a little more effort and they're not in the net. That could've been a 0-0 game, really, and if we could've scored on some of our chances it might've been a bit different, but we never (did)."
Rhett Blackmur got the visitors on the board with less than two minutes remaining in the first period, beating Bruins goalie Matt Gibney from the left faceoff circle.
Another late goal in the second period added to the Broncos' lead, as Jarrett Fontaine redirected a pass from Gray Marr past Gibney's right pad.
Miller said allowing two late goals didn't reflect how the Bruins were playing late in each period, and that their starts were a bigger issue.
"I think the timing of the goals was just that it worked out that we got scored on at the end, but I actually thought we were playing our best hockey in both periods toward the end of the period."
Hudson Morrison got the Bruins on the scoresheet just under six minutes into the third period on a power play, as he sent the puck back to Tanner Clark at the point, then got in front of the net and tipped Clark's shot past Broncos goalie Cade Spencer.
Barely two minutes later, Fontaine scored his second of the night to restore Humboldt's two-goal lead. Dylan Fluter scored an empty netter with 20 seconds left.
Estevan native and Yorkton Harvest forward Chase McKersie was called up to play his second career SJHL game on Saturday. Bruins head coach Chris Lewgood told his players after the game that there's a problem when a midget player is one of the team's best performers.
"(With) a team like Humboldt coming in, you're not going to win very many games when you've got an affiliated player being your best forward," Miller added.
Meanwhile, Austin Daae led the way for the Bruins against Melville last Tuesday, scoring a hat trick and adding an assist. David Robertson scored Estevan's other goal.
Kelvin Walz and Ashton Clark replied for the Mils.
Miller said the difference between the two games shows the Bruins still have a lot of work to do.
"Good teams string together wins and they string together good efforts. A good team doesn't go out and play great on Tuesday night and win 4-2, and then you have an equally as good team coming in in Humboldt, and then you stink it out. Good teams find a way to have that consistent effort every time. I think that's what we're struggling with right now, is coming to the rink and putting in that 60-minute effort."
On the injury front, right winger Lynnden Pastachak re-injured his shoulder on Nov. 15 against Nipawin and will be evaluated again this week. Meanwhile, forward Ben Johnstone (shoulder) is likely at least a week away from returning.
