Veteran CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins centre Keaton Longpre helped propel his team to a much-needed 10-4 win over the rebuilding Humboldt Broncos at Affinity Place on Saturday in his first game back with the team after a long stay on the injured list.
Longpre scored his seventh goal of the season and the team’s second of the night only 1:56 into the first period. A tad under 30 minutes later, he notched his eighth and the Bruins’ seventh.
The top-end forward, who has been sidelined since suffering a knee injury in a Dec. 12 contest at Weyburn against the Red Wings, said he’s worked hard off the ice to keep in game shape and is back to 100 per cent healthy. He said it was a full effort from everyone on the team in the lopsided win over the Broncos (12-27-4-1) and that was just what they needed after suffering a 3-0 loss to the Notre Dame Hounds (20-17-2-3) at Wilcox’s Duncan McNeill Arena Jan. 19 and a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Flin Flon Bombers (26-14-0-4) at Affinity Place on Friday in their previous two games.
“It’s hard to stay focused when you have such a big lead, but the team did good tonight,” said Longpre, while sporting the Bruins’ hardest working player hardhat shortly after the game. “We kept rolling and really stepped on their throats tonight.”
In a penalty filled first period, the Bruins and Broncos exchanged goals with Owen LaClare, Longpre, Lynnden Pastachak, Zach Douglas and Keegan Allison finding the back of the net for Estevan and Logan Schatz, Chris Van Os-Shaw and Daniel McKitrick replying for Humboldt. Douglas, Longpre and Humboldt’s Laramie Kostelansky scored in the second, while Allison and Darcy DeRoose, with two goals, lit the lamp in the third. Carter Seminuk made 38 saves in the loss and Nathan Alalouf earned the win on 18 stops.
“That’s the effort we needed,” said Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood, whose team moved to 23-18-0-3 with the win. “It was an okay first period and a really good second and third. It was nice to see the guys stay at it and stay focused for 60.”
Lewgood said now that Longpre is back on the ice, only high scoring forwards Braden Oleksyn and Kaelan Holt remain on the injured list due to a shoulder injury and concussion, respectively. He said there is no firm timeline for when each player may be back.
