\The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins lost a pair of games on the weekend, and will likely lose the services of their captain for a few games as well.
The Bruins (22-13-3-1) lost 4-2 to the Melfort Mustangs (24-7-4-1) Friday and 2-1 in overtime to the Humboldt Broncos (20-13-3-2) Saturday.
“They were two different games,” Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood said. “Friday night’s game we played really well with the exception of four or five shifts and four or five end up in the back of our net.”
Saturday was an entirely different story.
“We just didn’t play well enough,” Lewgood said. “We played half the game well and even when we were skating hard we were still disorganized.”
The team failed to complete many passes and weren’t the sharpest when it came to their energy level. Despite their being fewer hits than a Lou Bega concert, Bruins captain Jake Fletcher was dinged with a major penalty and game misconduct for a check from behind for a hit on Humboldt’s Derek Patter in the middle of the second period. Patter was helped off the ice and missed the balance of the period but returned for the third period.
“When you’re not sharp and things aren’t going well you’ve got to skate and work through,” Lewgood said. “We didn’t have the work ethic (Saturday night) to do that.”
In the net, Bo Didur made 28 saves in the loss Saturday and Matt Lukacs stopped 23 Friday.
Michael McChesney scored the Bruins’ only goal Saturday on a delayed penalty after Stephen Wack tripped up Jake Heerspink in the neutral zone.
“(Humboldt) played hard and played tough,” McChesney said. “They didn’t let anything come easy…. Their goalie played pretty well but we didn’t get any guys to the net. There were a lot of rebounds we missed opportunities on. A lot of stick battles we didn’t win. Just a lot of little things we need to be better at and they beat us at.”
The Bruins entered the third period ahead but gave up a goal 33 seconds into the period on a power play.
“We’ve got to be better at little things like blocking shots and just doing those little things” McChesney said.
McChesney and Kaelan Holt scored for the Bruins Friday.
The Bruins’ next action is Wednesday and Saturday at home to the Kindersley Klippers (15-15-2-2),
