Nathan Alalouf made 47 saves on 50 shots over the span of two home games last week and the Estevan Bruins can feel pretty good about themselves as they head into their post-Thanksgiving break.
Starting in place of regular netminder Tyler Fuhr, Alalouf backstopped the Bruins (7-4-0-1) to a 27-save 3-0 shutout win over the La Ronge Ice Wolves (3-10-1) last Wednesday before leading Estevan to a 7-3 victory against the reigning SJHL champion Melfort Mustangs (9-1-1-1) two days later.
Chris Lewgood, head coach and general manager of the Bruins, said Alalouf, who started the season as the third-string goalie behind Fuhr and injured backup Tyler Gutenberg, played well against the Ice Wolves in their previous meeting, a 4-1 victory on Oct. 4 at the SJHL Showcase event, so the decision was made to give him another chance. He said after he came through with a shutout they decided to go with the hot hand again versus the top-ranked Mustangs.
Alalouf didn't have to earn the victories alone. The Bruins peppered La Ronge goaltender Kris Joyce with 37 shots, with three finding their way to the back of the net. Ryan Duret got the scoring started with his first of the season a little over three minutes into the first and that was followed at the 14:18 mark when Lynnden Pastachak knocked one in. Zach Goberis finished off the scoring when he potted his first as a Bruin into an empty net with just under one minute remaining in the game.
The 100-minute shutout streak, dating back to the first period of the first Ice Wolves game, ended 21 seconds in against the Mustangs thanks to a goal by Tristan Frei. Estevan's Darcy DeRoose got that one back 16 minutes later with his third of the year.
The Bruins displayed their offensive might in the second with Levi Barnstable, Braden Oleksyn and Keaton Longpre all scoring within a 1:10 span midway through the frame to put the Bruins up 4-1 and knocking Melfort goaltender Richard Palmer from the game.
Mustangs backup Evan Plotnik fared better by only allowing DeRoose's second of the night five minutes into the third, with Pastachak scoring two empty netters to finish off the game.
Lewgood said they carried the play for most of the night against Melfort. He said they had the territorial advantage for the majority of the game and outplayed them in almost all aspects.
“We know the team very well,” said Lewgood. “They scored a lot of goals against us last year so we were able to dissect their offence and come up with a game plan. Essentially, once we felt we could break that down we focused on doing what we do and played our game to the best of our abilities.”
Lewgood said they wanted to head into their 10-day break after the Mustangs match feeling good about themselves and that was accomplished with the two wins. However, he said once they get back to practice later this week those victories will be out of mind and it'll be back to business as they prepare for their next game on Oct. 27 in Melville versus the Millionaires.
