With a pair of losses to finish last week, the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins are sitting in third in the Viterra Division with a little more than 20 games left in the schedule to catch up.
The Bruins struggled to find the back of the net in a pair of contests at home last week, first being shutout by the Melfort Mustangs 4-0 on Thursday and then suffering a 2-1 shootout loss to the La Ronge Ice Wolves the next night.
The Bruins are now eight points behind the Melville Millionaires for first place in the division and six back of the Weyburn Red Wings for second.
The scoresheet wasn’t very kind to the Bruins in their tilt against the Mustangs. The Bruins recorded nearly as many penalties as they did shots, as they were outshot 30 to 13, and were penalized for 12 individual infractions.
The Mustangs got on the board early in the first with Justin Boyer potting his first on the night about five minutes into the game. He scored a second goal on the power play about seven minutes later just as the penalty clock was ticking down for Wyatt Garagan who went off for high sticking.
Mustang defenceman Riley Boomgaarden stretched the lead for the road team 15:39 into the second, while Boyer completed his hat trick with another power play goal 11:21 into the third.
A number of fighting majors were handed out in the third period as well with the Bruins’ Lynnden Pastachak throwing fists with Dakota Boutin, and Josh Rieger going toe-to-toe with Sheldon Argent.
In net for the Bruins, Tyler Fuhr turned away 26 of 30 shots.
Fuhr also got the start for the Friday night game, and while he found himself a little busier, stopping 35 of 36, the Bruins made sure Ice Wolves goaltender Austin Rediron was peppered more than the Mustangs keeper the night before.
The Bruins had a better start against La Ronge, with winger Taylor Ross potting his third on the year just under three minutes into the game. While the Bruins posted 29 shots, the remaining traffic put toward Rediron was turned away for the next 57 minutes.
Though the Bruins couldn’t stretch their lead, they manage to keep it through the first period and all of the second.
The Ice Wolves, however, got on the board right out of the gate in the third period, with Cole Porter knocking in his eighth of the season, with assists going to Joel Blacquiere and Dave Randall.
The teams would remain deadlocked through the third period and a five minute overtime frame before moving to a shootout.
In the first round, the Bruins’ Zach Douglas and Ice Wolves’ Blacquiere both scored, followed by a scoreless second round featuring Keegan Allison for the Bruins and Randall. In the third round RT Rice failed to score for the Bruins while Jared Blacquiere knocked in the game winner.
The Bruins have now lost five shootouts on the season, the most in the SJHL.
The Bruins have a final game before breaking for Christmas. On Dec. 18 they host the Kindersley Klipppers. After the break, the will welcome the Red Wings on Dec. 30 as part of the rivals’ annual home-and-home series on either side of the New Year.
