The outcome of the series was in doubt right up until Austin Daae scored an empty netter with 14 seconds left, but the Estevan Bruins hung on for a 3-1 victory over the Flin Flon Bombers in Game 5 of their SJHL wildcard series on Thursday night.
They will now face the Battlefords North Stars in a quarter-final series that begins Saturday and Sunday in North Battleford.
The rest of the scoring all happened in the first period, as Daae and Lynnden Pastachak tallied for the Bruins and Paul Soubry had the Bombers' lone goal.
The Bombers brought the heat once again, as they carried at least as much of the play as the Bruins did and had several dangerous looks that were stopped by Bruins tender Matt Gibney.
But Gibney didn't need to be the first star on this night, as his team committed to a strong defensive effort and shut down the visitors over the final 40 minutes. Unlike in past games, the Bombers rarely spent long stretches in the Estevan zone, as the Bruins' blue line won the battles around the net and moved the puck with poise.
In a deciding game where all the pressure was on the Bruins and none was on the Bombers, Estevan rose to the occasion and played a largely mistake-free game.
Pastachak put an exclamation point on a breakout series for him, scoring the opening goal at 12:39, as he grabbed the puck off a turnover and hammered a shot past Flin Flon netminder Simon Hofley.
"Some of it's luck, most of it's luck I should say, but the other (part) comes from my linemates, they're forcing stuff up the wall onto my tape or giving me shots in the slot and I'm taking them and just hitting the right spots on the net," Pastachak said of his success in the series.
Soubry replied for Flin Flon two minutes later, beating Gibney off the rush to tie it up.
Daae scored with two minutes left in the period to put his club back on top, diving to knock in a rebound off a centring pass.
Although it was only the second goal of the series for the team's top line, head coach Chris Lewgood said those concerns were overblown.
"Those guys, they're going to be there. They've played well and they create chances. When they stop generating chances I'll be really concerned. I don't think that's going to happen. It's just a matter of getting some breaks and tonight (Daae) had a couple."
The Bombers tested Gibney a lot in the second period, especially on some shots through traffic, but he tracked them well and made a couple of stops where I'm sure he didn't see the puck.
In the third, the Bruins played a really solid team defensive game, and while the Bombers spent extended stretches in their zone a couple of times, there were no real golden opportunities to score. In fact, Estevan started to push and get some of their best chances of the game in the final six or seven minutes.
They had a couple of shots at the empty net before Daae finally ended it.
"I thought they anticipated well and I thought we played with a little more jump tonight than the Bombers did, and that helps to get to loose pucks. There were games within the series where we didn't get to loose pucks and it made it harder to make plays moving north," Lewgood said of the club's defensive corps.
He added that Gibney was "the best player by a country mile" in the series.
The Bruins only have one day off as they prepare to take on the North Stars. They will leave for the Battlefords on Saturday morning. After playing two games up there, the series shifts to Affinity Place for games on Tuesday and Wednesday. After that, it's Game 5 on March 21 in North Battleford, Game 6 here on March 23 and Game 7 up there on March 25.
I'm going to try to put up a separate series preview later today or tomorrow on the bus. Follow me on twitter for updates from the first two games at @joshlewis306
Here are interviews with Lewgood and Pastachak following Game 5:
