The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins lost three of four games on their final Sherwood Division road trip of the year in what turned out to be a battle of attrition.
They lost 2-1 to Nipawin Tuesday, beat La Ronge 5-3 Wednesday and lost 7-4 to Flin Flon Friday and 3-2 to Melfort Saturday. By the end of the trip, Jake Fletcher, Michael McChesney and Matthew Chekay had missed games in there as well.
Fletcher opened the scoring Tuesday in Nipawin at 7:02 of the first period but only a couple of minutes later Nipawin tied it up. They took the lead in the second period and didn't allow any other goals. The Hawks outshot the Bruins 46-21 in the game, and goaltender Matt Lukacs stopped 44 of 46 shots.
The following night they lit up the La Ronge Ice Wolves with a 3-1 first period. Jake Heerspink, Arthur Miller and Fletcher scored for the Bruins, who allowed a second period goal and a third period goal to tie it up. Jake Tesarowski put the puck in the net at 17:14 of the third and Hayden Guilderson added an empty net goal at 19:10 to seal the game. Lukacs stopped 32 of 35 shots.
Friday, Zach Goberis opened the scoring at 4:31 of the first but that was a rare bright sopt on the game as the Bombers ripped in four goals before the end of the period. Goberis and Tyson Manz brought the Bruins back to 4-3 with a pair of quick goals early in the second, but even after McChesney scored the Bruins couldn't keep the puck out of their net and were down 6-4. An empty net goal by the Bombers with six seconds left was the icing on their cake. Max Sidelnik started in net but gave up three goals on seven shots in just over nine minutes and was replaced by Lukacs. He stopped 35 of 38 the rest of the way.
Then Saturday the injury-depleted Bruins were missing some of their big guns but put up a game effort in the 3-2 loss to the Melfort Mustangs. Kaelan Holt and Goberis scored for the Bruins, who allowed 48 shots to face Lukacs and fired 34 at the Melfort net.
The Bruins are at home for a pair of games this week at Affinity Place. They take to the ice Wednesday to take on the Yorkton Terriers and then Friday against the Battlefords North Stars. The schedule gets a bit less bus-filled at the start of the second half, with only three road games between now and Jan. 20, 2018.
