The Estevan Apex midget AA Bruins got their swagger back with a dominant 7-0 win over the Regina Capitals at Affinity Place on Sunday.
“Having two bad losses last weekend, we wanted to make sure we came out (strong),” said Bruins captain Brady Long, referencing the club’s 5-3 and 5-2 defeats to the Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers in the first two games of the team’s nine-game homestand. “We had a nice tough practice on Wednesday, came out and worked hard.”
The Bruins (15-4-1) and Capitals (5-15-0-1) hit the ground running in the first period with both clubs generating chances only to have Estevan netminder Bryson Garton and Regina goalie Kade Smith block the door. Dylan Hull, who leads the Bruins defence with seven goals and 16 points, broke the stalemate 7:05 into the opening frame by picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone while the Capitals were executing a line change, racing down the wing and firing a shot low far side on Smith.
Bruins centre Jacob Palmer made it 2-0 with 5:37 left in the second period one-timing a saucer-pass from Preston Audet before Dawson Schaff scored the 3-0 goal on a deflection in front of the Capitals net late in the third period. Regina’s Noah Flaman had a chance to bring the score to within two on the power play six-and-a-half minutes into the final frame, but a pad save by Garton followed with a break by the Bruins penalty kill unit that finished with centre Dalton Schrader potting a short-handed marker further pushed the game out of their reach.
“It was a good play,” said Schrader. “Daymon (Wanner) got the puck and then we were going down and he just chipped it by the defenceman and I headed out there, lifted the guy’s stick and on a whim shot it toward the net.”
Hunter Piche notched his team leading 15th goal on a deflection of a Long slapper from the blueline at the 12:25 mark to make the score 5-0 before the defenceman scored his first of the season 26 seconds later on a seeing-eye shot from the point.
“It was nice to get the first one,” said Long, who assisted on the Bruins seventh and final marker by Jaiden Gervais with 1:16 to play. “I was firing pucks on net all night, had a couple guys tip some shots and I finally got one through. The plan was just to get pucks on net.”
Schrader said the club needed to get back on the horse after last weekend’s setback and the win over the Capitals coupled with the team’s 6-2 victory over the Swift Current K-Motel Broncos (9-10-1) one day earlier did just that. He said their confidence is up and they’re playing as a unit, which should go a long way in helping the team run the table against the Moose Jaw Warriors (6-10-3) this Saturday and Sunday and the Weyburn Streamline Oilfield Wings (17-1-1) on Dec. 23.
“The plan is to win out before Christmas,” said Long. “We had a way better effort this weekend than last weekend, so if we can carry that into the next three games hopefully we can come out with a win in all of these.”
