It's rare that two teams play each other three times in a row. However, it does provide a chance to get revenge almost immediately after a loss.
That was the case on Thursday, as the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins battered the Notre Dame Hounds 6-3 at Affinity Place.
The Hounds had lambasted the Bruins 5-1 on Nov. 22.
"This was huge, especially after them beating us 5-1 last game," said Bruins winger Keegan Allison, who scored a hat trick on Thursday. "We got to play them again. Coming out and playing like we did was awesome. It shows a lot."
The Bruins (9-14-0-3) are tied for third place in the Viterra Division with the Yorkton Terriers. They are four points behind the Weyburn Red Wings with two games in hand, and six points behind the division-leading Melville Millionaires, also with two games in hand.
Bruins goalie Tyler Fuhr was tested heavily in his first game with the team, making 47 saves on 50 shots. The Bruins fired 27 shots on Hounds starter Alexi Thibaudeau.
"He made a lot of saves tonight. I think our guys did a good job of eliminating a lot of dangerous plays, but he was good when called upon. I thought he was solid. He's different from what we've had here over the last year and a half. He's calm, he's collected and he plays with a lot of poise," Bruins head coach Chris Lewgood said of Fuhr.
The goalie had an adventure about 15 seconds into the game though, struggling with the Hounds' first shot.
"I just about fumbled it there a little bit, though. I wasn't expecting it," he chuckled.
Mahlon Head opened the scoring for the Bruins just 2:19 into the game on a feed from Chase McKersie.
That score held until early in the second period, when the teams combined for three goals in a span of three minutes.
Allison scored his first of the game 80 seconds in on a power play.
"The first one, we were working it down low. (It went) to the point, to Jason (Duret), and Jason sees the ice really well. I was just kinda sitting back door and he slid it over to me and I had a wide open net," Allison said.
Three minutes in, Hounds defenceman Evan Werle got his club on the board on a setup by Sam Aulie.
A little over a minute later, Duret scored a power play marker to put the Bruins ahead 3-1.
Four minutes into the third, Taylor Ross beat Thibaudeau with a rocket of a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.
Two minutes after that, Allison got his second of the game on a rebound sitting in the crease.
"It was a 5-on-3, shot from the point, the goalie didn't know where it was and kind of popped it out to me, and I just put it in the empty net again," he said.
The Hounds weren't done though, as they scored twice in a span of 22 seconds later in the period.
Cory Anderson scored at the 13:24 mark from a bad angle, and Spencer Trapp made it 5-3 on a power play goal shortly afterward.
Allison added an empty net goal with 76 seconds to play.
"I thought he was outstanding. I thought he was one of our better players tonight. I like his work ethic every single night. He creates a lot for himself and his teammates by being hard on pucks and staying on pucks. Tonight, he was able to find the back of the net as well," Lewgood said of Allison.
It was Fuhr's first SJHL game of the season, but he said it wasn't hard to settle back in.
"Notre Dame's a good team. It's been awhile since I was back in this league, but you've got to expect everything going into that net and you gotta be ready for it. I was ready for tonight and the boys came out with a big win.
"The boys in front of me were blocking shots. I need to work on my rebound control a little better. I was scrambling a little bit. But goaltending is just like riding a bike for me now. I've been doing it for eight years now."
Allison added that although the Bruins were heavily outshot, "we had a lot of zone time and possession down low was good. We kept their shots to the outside, which helped us out a lot, and obviously Fuhr was unreal."
The Bruins have now scored 17 goals in their last four games, something the club struggled with earlier in the season.
"I thought we played well in a lot of games prior to scoring goals, and we missed a lot of opportunities. I think maybe a little keener attention to detail and repetition in practice is starting to pay off. We just went out and did what we're supposed to do tonight. It was a game that we felt we could win, and we went out and executed," said Lewgood.
"Offensively speaking, we have to count on our top line to do some scoring. There's going to be a significant difference between their output at home and on the road, because on a night like tonight, until Lynnden (Pastachak) got knocked out, we were able to match lines and I thought our four lines outplayed their four lines. When we get favourable matchups at home, I think our top line's going to produce significantly."
Pastachak took an elbow to the chin from Austin Lightfoot early in the third period. He left the game, but further tests showed he did not suffer a concussion.
"My thoughts are it was an elbow to the head and the player is going to be, likely, suspended. I'm sure when the league sees the video, they'll (take action). We gotta protect the best players in the league and in my opinion, Lynnden's one of those guys. Whether it was intentional or not, I can't say for sure, but it was definitely directly to the chin with an elbow."
Meanwhile, R.T. Rice fought Alex Laflamme late in the third and made a throat slash gesture afterward. He was suspended on Sunday for three games.
"He let his emotions get the best of him and it seems there's going to be consequences," said Lewgood.
The Bruins trimmed down their roster last week, releasing 19-year-old forward Adam Canepa and re-assigning 19-year-old defenceman Brandon Schaber to the Princeton Posse, a Junior B team in B.C. Lewgood said that was pending a Junior A trade.
In Canepa's case, the Bruins found him an opportunity at the USPHL level, which Lewgood described as "a really good tier three" level.
"As a '95 guy who was in and out of the lineup, it probably wasn't the best fit for him here."
After those moves, the Bruins were down to 22 players. Monday was the league's cut down deadline, requiring teams to get down to 25 players.
Meanwhile, Pastachak was one of eight SJHL players to be invited to the Canada West selection camp for the World Junior A Challenge. The camp takes place Dec. 7-9 in Calgary, while the tournament itself runs Dec. 14-20 in Kindersley.
The Bruins hosted the Hounds again last night. They hit the road this weekend, visiting the Melfort Mustangs on Friday, the Flin Flon Bombers on Saturday and the Nipawin Hawks on Sunday.
