The Apex Estevan midget AA Bruins scored in the dying seconds of the third period to beat the Winnipeg Sharks 7-6 and claim the B-side championship at a Prince Albert Raiders home tournament on Sunday.
Blake Jamieson, head coach of the Bruins, said the winner was a set play off a faceoff that squirted in front of the Winnipeg net. He said Bruins captain Wyatt Bayliss then fired a shot that went five-hole to give the team the lead with less than five seconds remaining in the game.
The championship was a wild back-and-forth shootout that saw Winnipeg get on the board first with a shot from Jett Sielkie-Bullard finding the back of the net only 12 seconds into the game. Estevan's Mitchell Morrison replied with a little under two minutes remaining to tie it up, before Bayliss and Hunter Piche scored to make it 3-1 in the Bruins favour.
By the 19-minute mark of the second period the Sharks had jumped ahead 4-3 on two goals courtesy of Codey Behun and a single by Noah Couch, but the Bruins battled back to score their fourth when Josh Giblett lit the lamp with 54 seconds remaining. Morrison and Erik McKersie scored within 47 seconds of each other a few minutes into the third before Winnipeg's Evan Kaufman scored with 14:30 remaining to bring the score to 6-5. Behun then recorded the hat trick with just over a minute left in the third to tie the game at sixes.
Estevan got to the B-side final with a tournament opening 6-5 overtime loss to the Martensville Marauders. The Bruins then shutout the rival Weyburn Wings 3-0 to set up the match with Winnipeg.
“It was disappointing that we lost and went to the B-side,” said Jamieson, noting that doesn't take away from the merits of the trip. “It's a good character builder and a good experience for the boys to get on the road and see other teams.”
