Secondary scoring was a primary concern for the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins during the first half of the season. Not anymore.
Linemates Austin Roesslein, Ben Johnstone and Michael Sagen continued their red-hot play of late as the Bruins stomped the Flin Flon Bombers 7-1 on Saturday.
Roesslein led the unit with the first natural hat trick of his career and added an assist.
"I think we've probably been playing at that pace for awhile, we just haven't been getting the bounces. I gotta give a lot of credit to the linemates, they're going just as hard as me," Roesslein said of his breakout game.
The seven goals were the most the Bruins have scored in a game since Jan. 20, 2012. The game also represented their largest margin of victory this season, as 24 of their 45 games have been decided by one goal.
Bruins head coach Chris Lewgood attributed the blowout to preparing properly for the Bombers, who are in the SJHL basement.
"I think we stayed the course and just played our game, didn't worry about our opponent. They've got a real young team over there and it's easy to let your guard down thinking it's going to be a cakewalk, but it's never a cakewalk in this league," Lewgood said.
Johnstone opened the scoring, squeaking a shot inside the post six minutes in to continue his recent hot streak.
The Bruins took a 2-0 lead eight minutes into the second on a Wyatt Garagan goal, followed by Roesslein's first of the night on a shot that beat former Bruins goaltender Casey Parker from the left faceoff circle.
"I just grabbed it out of the air and put it up on Parker," Roesslein said.
He jammed in his second goal five minutes later.
"(Austin Daae) made a nice pass out front to (Tanner Froese) and he took a couple whacks at it and it just landed on my stick," Roesslein said.
The hat trick was completed early in the third on a feed from Johnstone.
"It was a nice shorthanded rush by Benny and he just slid it over to open ice. I got a step on the guy and put it in."
Lewgood said it was nice to see Roesslein have a big night because his many other contributions don't necessarily show up on a scoresheet.
"He just does a little of everything for us. I'm always rooting for Austin. He's a guy who plays the game the right way and never takes a shift off, so to see him get rewarded for it is huge.
"Those guys give us a good, honest effort every night and put themselves in opportunities to succeed, and tonight they just finally started getting some bounces."
The Bombers finally broke the goose egg halfway through the third on a goal by Peter Poulin-Roy. The Bruins got it back less than a minute later as Lynnden Pastachak skated in alone and fired a wrister into the net.
The offensive explosion was capped with 14 seconds left, as Corey Kosloski finished off a play with Daae.
"We've got skilled players and they're buying into a program and they're on the same page, and when that happens you usually get some success," Lewgood said.
The shots on goal were 30-22 for Estevan.
The win was a strong bounce-back effort for the Bruins after a disappointing 5-4 shootout loss to the Melville Millionaires on Jan. 28, which saw them blow a two-goal lead in the last six minutes of regulation.
Nick Egan, David Robertson, Keegan Allison and Sagen scored for the Bruins, with Eric Meyer, Allen Kilback, Kelvin Walz and Alec Brandrup replying for the Mils. Colin Mospanchuk scored the shootout winner in the fifth round.
The Bruins (23-15-2-5) are three points behind the Humboldt Broncos for sixth place and a first-round bye, with two games in hand.
The team has stayed in that race despite being without defencemen R.T. Rice and Kyle Bird for the past month. While icing four regular rearguards and whatever affiliated players are available on a given night, the Bruins have posted a 5-2-2 record.
Lewgood said the group of Egan, Robertson, Zach Douglas and Nolan Nicholas has been clutch.
"They've been tremendous. They've led the charge. We like to think that we have, when healthy, six really solid d-men, a maybe very underrated D corps.
"They've worked hard away from the rink, things people don't see, to prepare themselves for situations like this. After most games, you'll find our d-men on the bikes. After most practices, you'll find our d-men on the bikes. They prepare themselves as hard as they can - as hard as anybody in our league, I can guarantee that - to play lots of minutes and be reliable when we need them."
Bird was expected to return last night against Weyburn, while Rice likely won't be back until next week. Forward Keaton Longpre will miss at least two weeks with an injury.
Meanwhile, two Bruins received SJHL honours for January, as Daae was named the player of the month for the second straight time, while Douglas was named the defenceman of the month.
Daae posted five goals and 16 points in 10 games. The league scoring leader now has 26 goals and 58 points on the season. Douglas had 10 assists in as many games.
The Bruins are on the road this weekend, visiting the Kindersley Klippers on Friday, the Battlefords North Stars on Saturday and Humboldt on Sunday.
