Facing injuries and having to make some lineup changes, Estevan Apex Bruins head coach Dalton Giblett put a new line together on Saturday.
The trio of Kyle Salaway, Dylan Lay and Kaelan Holt produced immediate results in a 7-1 spanking of the Regina Wild.
Salaway had four goals and two assists, Lay had five points and the new line combined for 14 points to help the Bruins (10-6-3) stay in fifth place in the South Saskatchewan Minor Hockey League.
"They had six out of the seven goals, so they sparked a little energy. That happened right off the bat, a couple of chips, a couple of 2-on-1s,
Dylan Lay buried two quick goals and that's what started it," Giblett said of the pounding, which came 24 hours after a disappointing 5-2 loss to the bottom-feeding Weyburn Wings.
The Bruins took a 3-1 lead after the first period on Saturday, getting a pair of early goals from Lay and another from Salaway nine minutes in.
Colby Brandt had the Wild's lone goal in the opening frame, a power play marker three minutes in.
Estevan scored four unanswered goals after that, three of them by Salaway.
His goal 70 seconds into the middle period put the Bruins up 4-1 and Mitchell Morrison's power play tally midway through the frame put the game into blowout territory.
"In the second period, they took some penalties and the wheels kinda fell off for them," Giblett said of the Wild. "I've been on that side of the coin too and you can't do much to stop it. We had power play after power play and we didn't score that many goals, but we did do some good things that we're going to work on."
Indeed, Morrison's goal was the only one the Bruins managed on 12 opportunities.
Salaway scored two more goals in the third, one coming 79 seconds in and the other at the 11-minute mark.
"They moved the puck pretty good tonight and that's the difference. Against Weyburn (on Friday), we didn't move the puck. We thought we were going to get two points just by showing up. You can't be like that," Giblett said.
"Regina did have some chances. I think they had three breakaways and they didn't score on any. (Goalie) Landon (Audet) played very well and that was another key."
On Friday, meanwhile, the Bruins handed Weyburn (3-10-3) just their third win of the season.
The Wings scored four unanswered goals, including three in the third period.
"We didn't work. We thought we were going to win just by showing up. We let Weyburn hang around, hang around and we had some chances to put them away early and we didn't. Then when we got down by two goals, we took it to them for the last four or five minutes, but you can't win hockey games like that," Giblett said.
The Bruins led early, with Holt scoring a power play marker late in the first to put them ahead.
Weyburn's Conar LaFoy scored in the middle of the second to square it up, but Salaway struck back on a man advantage 45 seconds later.
Konrad Proszak's goal for Weyburn two minutes later put the game in a 2-2 deadlock entering the third.
Aaron Dionne scored the winner for the Wings seven minutes in. Goals by Cole Rooney (on a power play) and Jarrett Metheral later in the period put the game out of reach for the Bruins.
With the Bruins just past the halfway point of their 36-game schedule and about to enter the Christmas break, Giblett said a rest for his banged up players will do some good. Only four players have suited up in all 19 games so far.
"We haven't had a full lineup yet. We're bouncing guys around, in and out, defence, forward, so our consistency has been up and down.
"Hats off to the kids, they've been doing a really good job. Every night they come to the rink, they don't know who they're playing with or where they're playing. It's a good thing some of them can't quite skate backward or they'd be playing D too," Giblett laughed.
Still, the Bruins managed to go unbeaten for seven games recently and are within striking distance of the top teams in the league.
"It's a confidence builder for these kids and they're doing a really good job," Giblett said.
The team's last game of 2013 is on Saturday against the Regina Flames. Game time is 3 p.m. at Affinity Place.
