They had scored 10 goals in a pair of home victories and seemed to be finding their swagger. Then came Saturday's game against the Notre Dame Hounds.
The CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins fell 5-1 to the Hounds in Wilcox Saturday, just 24 hours after edging the Battlefords North Stars 5-4 in overtime. On Nov. 18, they dumped the Yorkton Terriers 5-2.
Saturday's loss was a sober reminder that despite starting to turn it around, there are more bumps in the road to come.
"Our veteran players are the first guys I look at and I think they gotta be better. I think they gotta set the tone and as a team, we gotta compete a hell of a lot harder than we did tonight," Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood said of Saturday's loss.
"I just think we weren't moving our feet and when you're caught flat-footed, especially on the big ice against a good skating team, you're going to have trouble. It's not an ability thing. There's really no excuse for it. It's a lack of work ethic and attention to detail."
The Hounds attacked the puck all night, outshooting the Bruins 45-32.
They got the first goal five minutes in when Jared Martin knocked in a bouncing puck in the blue paint.
At the 12:49 mark, Sam Aulie scored on the power play when a Spencer Trapp shot took a lively bounce off the end boards right onto his stick.
Lynnden Pastachak got the Bruins on the board with his fourth goal in five games, beating Hounds goalie Benjamin Patt low blocker side.
Early in the second period, it appeared Bruins winger Taylor Ross had scored, but the lone referee was not in position to see whether it had gone in, and there were no goal judges for the game.
SJHL teams are required by the league to have goal judges for each game. League president Bill Chow could not immediately be reached to explain the protocol when this rule is not followed.
"Part of me wants to say it's hard to look at those things when we didn't play well after that. On the other hand, I think it was huge," said Lewgood. "We tie the game and the momentum seemed to have shifted at that point a little bit. There's no reason for that not to be called a goal, and the fact there was no goal judge sitting at the end of the rink, I don't know where at the Junior A level we don't have goal judges, but apparently this is one place. No official was in position to see if the puck crossed the line, but we all knew it from our bench and guys celebrated. I don't even know why the whistle went if it wasn't a goal. It was pretty plain to see we'd scored, and sometimes having a goal go in and then taken back is more deflating than it is anything else."
Ian Williams extended the Hounds' lead later in the frame, getting a breakaway off a blocked shot and beating goalie Tyler Gutenberg low glove side.
Dion Antisin added two goals for the Hounds in the third. The first one was slipped five-hole and the second was a strong individual effort, with Antisin wristing the puck in while falling to his knees.
"We just weren't with it tonight. The focus wasn't there. The attention to detail was poor. We gotta be mentally and physically better prepared than we were tonight," said Lewgood.
On Friday, meanwhile, the North Stars refused to quit, tying the game three times, including with 43 seconds left when Michael Statchuk's point shot went off Jake McMillen and in.
However, the Bruins persevered, with Charlie Manley scoring the overtime winner on a power play, on a puck that skittered back to the half wall after a chaotic scramble in front.
"It's huge for our team. We're trying to put a couple of streaks (together). We need to get some points back in the standings. Any way you can win is big," said Manley. "I think we just stuck to it and the goals are starting to come now. We knew all along we were going to start burying our chances and now they're coming for us."
The Bruins took a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals from defencemen two minutes apart, as David Robertson and Josh Rieger both beat goalie Spencer Tremblay on shots from the right side.
Eight minutes into the second, Connor Sych beat Gutenberg five-hole.
Late in the frame, Brady O'Sullivan tied the game by poking in a loose puck in the crease.
Wyatt Garagan put the Bruins back on top on a goal from the doorstep just 31 seconds into the third period. However, the Stars responded 22 seconds later on O'Sullivan's second of the game.
Pastachak scored on a shorthanded breakaway halfway through the period, only for McMillen to tie it again late.
Shots on goal were 39-24 for the Stars.
"I think it's a real big win for the hockey team. I think it's the first time we've had back-to-back wins, and they're one of the better teams in the nation. They didn't give up. They kept coming, tying it up, tied it up late, and our guys stuck to the plan and worked real hard, and ended up getting the overtime win on the power play," said Bruins assistant coach Darnell Glass.
Gutenberg was busy for most of the night, but was happy to see the goal support at the other end.
"It started out with not too many shots in the first period. There were a couple I'd like to have back, but the guys bounced back and they got some goals up front for me, so that was nice," he said.
On Nov. 18, meanwhile, the Bruins got goals from Jason Duret, Brad Arabia, Zach Douglas, Pastachak and Chase McKersie. Tyson Enzie and Adam Santoro scored for Yorkton.
Lewgood said the strong play after trading Darcy DeRoose and Brett Lewchuk is a factor of the remaining players stepping up their game, not losing those players.
"I think in relation to the trades, it's purely a coincidence. I think Darcy was our best player up until the point of him being traded. To say that there was a positive effect in us trading him would just be wrong. I do think that having additional ice time and additional opportunities for some guys may have played a factor."
He added that the team's turnaround spans more than just the two home games last week. He believes it started with a game against Yorkton in Moosomin on Nov. 1.
"I would say the Moosomin game was where our team really started to turn a corner. We played with a lot of confidence. I thought that was where we started coming into our own."
The Bruins are back in action on Thursday, hosting the Hounds. Newly acquired goalie Tyler Fuhr is expected to get the start. The same teams will also clash on Tuesday. Both games start at 7:30 p.m. at Affinity Place.
