A nightmarish season continued for the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins on the weekend, as they lost all three games on a critical northern road swing.
The struggling team now sits second-last in the SJHL and fifth in the Sherwood Conference with a record of 8-15-2-0. They were only two points ahead of the last-place Weyburn Red Wings entering Tuesday's game at Notre Dame.
The Bruins lost 3-2 to the Melfort Mustangs on Friday, 6-3 to the Flin Flon Bombers on Saturday and 4-1 to the La Ronge Ice Wolves on Sunday.
Estevan's road record now sits at an ugly 3-12.
"We didn't have any bus legs coming off the bus in Melfort. We came out and had a strong first period. We rode the bus to every game this weekend and we came out flying in every game," said Bruins head coach Keith Cassidy.
"Teams are supposed to win at home, but you try to be above .500 on the road and obviously we're nowhere near that right now. I attribute the road problems to the same problems we're having generally, an inability to put the puck in the net."
On Sunday, the Bruins peppered Wolves goalie Dasan Sydora with 47 shots, yet they were held off the board until Hudson Morrison scored with nine seconds left in regulation.
"You outshoot a team 47-30 and you only manage one goal, you can't say that the effort's not there and you can't say you're not getting the opportunities. The scoring part is letting us down," said Cassidy.
"You hear '(they got) 47 shots' and a lot of times you'll say it's from the perimeter. We had more glorious scoring opportunities than I can remember in a hockey game. Their goalie did play real well, my hat's off to him."
Graham Smerek, Brendan Boyd, Brett McNevin and Owen LaClare had the goals for La Ronge.
On Saturday, the Bruins fell down 4-1 after two periods, and although they did narrow that gap in the third, it wasn't enough to beat the Bombers.
"We played them tight in the first period, had an unfortunate (lapse) in the second and made a good push back to make it 4-3. We took an untimely penalty that cost us and that kinda snuffed out the push back we had going," said Cassidy.
Wyatt Garagan and Tanner Froese scored midway through the third to make it close, but the Bombers responded with two of their own in the last 70 seconds.
Recently acquired defenceman Leighton McLachlan scored his first goal as a Bruin in the first period.
Josh Roach (2), Brett Boehm, Spencer Mault, Dallen Hall and Tyson Empey scored for Flin Flon.
On Friday in Melfort, the Bruins blew a chance to start the trip off right.
"When you go in there, that's your first game of a three-game road trip, against a team that's similar to you in the standings, you certainly want to take advantage," said Cassidy.
"It was a bit of the same old, same old in that game. We did everything we needed to do to get in scoring position and when the critical moment came, we weren't able to put the puck in the net."
Cassidy added that it's time for the team to show some urgency, with the season nearly half over and the Bruins languishing in a deep hole in the standings.
"It's no longer early in the year, it's no longer 'it's going to come,' it's 'we gotta get it done' time. The guys are very well aware of that. I think that was shown in the effort and the intensity we had this weekend. We're talking about five losses in a row, but the guys played from the drop of the puck to the final buzzer."
Bruins goalie Steven Glass backed up in all three games and is getting closer to being able to start.
The Bruins will host Humboldt on Friday and La Ronge on Saturday. The time of the La Ronge game has been moved to 2 p.m.
