Five days after their most convincing win over the Weyburn Red Wings in several years, the Power Dodge Estevan Bruins came up short in a rematch with their Highway 39 rivals.
The Bruins dropped a 6-3 decision to the Red Wings on Wednesday night at Affinity Place. With the win, the Wings avenged a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Bruins on Sept. 30.
It appeared early on the Bruins might win in a rout again. Kaelan Holt scored 30 seconds into the game to give the Bruins a 1-0 advantage. But Ian Parker tied the game on a power play with 5:14 to play in the first period.
Cole Woodliffe tallied early in the second to give the Wings a 2-1 lead, an advantage that would last until the 13:07 mark of the frame, when Bruin defenceman Tyler Hengen tied the game again.
It was the second goal in two home games for the local product this season.
“I’ve been shooting the puck and putting everything on net,” said Hengen. “Anything can happen when you put it on net.”
Forty-five seconds later, Jayden Davis, a 17-year-old forward from Alameda who was making his Bruin debut, scored to give the home team a 3-2 lead.
Davis had been cut by the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League just two days earlier.
“It’s pretty exciting to play for the Bruins,” said Davis. “Lots of family and friends get to come out and watch, and I really like that.”
But then Weyburn would get two quick goals of their own, as Parker notched his second of the game and Carson Rose scored 48 seconds later to lift Weyburn to a 4-3 lead after two periods.
Donavon Lumb scored 6:49 into the third, and Jeremy Lagier tallied on a power play with 4:55 to play to round out the scoring. Lagier’s goal capped a four-point night, as he also had three assists.
“I think we came out flat, and we just started every period flat, and this is what happens,” said Hengen. “We can beat this team any night, but we have to come out ready to play.”
Bruin goalie Nathan Alalouf stopped 30 shots in the loss. Shawn Fleming made 31 saves in the victory.
Weyburn outshot the Bruins 13-8 in the third, and contained the Bruins’ high-scoring offence for much of the frame.
“In the third we began to chase the game a little bit, and tried some different things to create offence, which sometimes takes away from your defensive game,” said head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood. “It was in the first and the second where we dug ourselves in a hole, and as a result we’re playing from behind.”
Weyburn came out stronger than on Friday night, but it was the Bruins’ lack of effort that Lewgood thought was the difference.
The Bruins will return to the ice on Oct. 7 when they host the La Ronge Ice Wolves. Game time is at 7:30 p.m.
