They surprised the Battlefords North Stars on Saturday, overcoming a slow start by firing four unanswered goals, but the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins could not replicate that success the next night.
The two clubs emerged from the first two games of their SJHL quarterfinal series in North Battleford with a split, as the Bruins won the opener 4-1 and the North Stars rebounded with a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Sunday.
The series resumed last night with Game 3 in Estevan, with Game 4 going tonight at Affinity Place. The fifth game is Friday in North Battleford. Games 6 and 7, if necessary, will be played Sunday in Estevan and Tuesday in North Battleford. All games begin at 7:30 p.m.
"(On Saturday) we answered the bell a little earlier in the game and we were able to work ourselves back into it. We just left too much in the tank (Sunday)," said Bruins head coach Chris Lewgood. "It's a terrible feeling when the final buzzer goes and you've got more left. To me, that's the difference between Game 1 and Game 2."
Early in the series opener, the Bruins looked like a team playing their sixth game in nine nights, as the Stars dominated the first period with 13 shots and most of the possession.
Due in large part to the play of Bruins goalie Matt Gibney, the North Stars were held to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, that coming seven minutes in when Cam Blair took a feed from Regan Yew off a neutral zone turnover and scored.
"As everybody knows, confidence is a big part, so early on when we weren't playing the best hockey, he held us in there and that allowed us the confidence to move forward," Lewgood said of his netminder's play.
Bruins captain Tanner Froese scored his first goal of the playoffs late in the second on a power play, the result of a gradual pushback by the Bruins. Defenceman Nick Egan beat his man at the blue line, sent the puck in behind the net to Corey Kosloski, and he found Froese in front.
"I think the guys started to put more pressure on and take some chances and really trust their instincts and give themselves the respect they deserve. I think early on, we showed a little too much respect for the Stars, and you sit back and give them opportunities to succeed and they will. They're too good of a team to do that," Lewgood said.
Forward Keegan Allison said the team's neutral zone play was key in turning the tide Saturday.
"The last time we played here, we were down (5-1) after the first period. So we knew that if we never gave up, there wasn't going to be a problem, not that we were down in the game. We just had to keep trucking and we had a great third period."
That began with Allison's goal three minutes in, as he took a feed from Kosloski on a 2-on-1 and buried it.
Kosloski scored four minutes later, surprising Battlefords goalie Michael Gudmandson with a short side shot under the arm.
Froese closed out the scoring with his second of the night, and his team's second power play goal of the playoffs, popping in a Nolan Nicholas rebound from the high slot.
"I think what happens is the guys start looking around the dressing room, around the bench and they see their teammates and think, 'I gotta dig a little deeper for that guy right there,' and it's pretty easy to do that when you care about your teammates and you got a room full of guys you respect and care for," Lewgood said.
On the continued success of his line with fellow rookies Lynnden Pastachak and Jason Duret, Allison said, "It's the same as we've been doing all playoffs so far, always having our feet moving, getting the puck deep, cycling, and we've just been having a lot of success."
Egan was injured late in the third on a boarding play by Latrell Charleson and required stitches, but was not concussed and played in Game 2. Charleson missed the second contest with a one-game suspension.
On Sunday, the Stars again started strong, but it was Estevan netting the game's first goal, as Austin Roesslein fended off Battlefords defenceman Dillon Forbes on a shorthanded breakaway and beat Gudmandson.
Blair evened it up six minutes later on a power play, beating Gibney stick side for his second of the playoffs.
The winning goal came seven minutes into the second period, as an apparent miscommunication between defenceman David Robertson and Roesslein at the side of the Bruins' net resulted in Robertson turning the puck over. Stars forward Nick Fountain scooped it up and roofed a shot past Gibney from in tight.
Lewgood said his team's rearguards reacted differently to pressure from the Battlefords forecheck on Sunday than it did the night before.
"I think (Saturday) we did a better job of recognizing situations and committing to plays early. For two periods (Saturday) we were committed to a play and moved pucks up ice, and tonight we held on or went over one too many times."
The team's power play also dried up Sunday, failing to score on six opportunities.
"We moved the puck around OK on the power play and then we made some mistakes with it and some unforced errors, things like that. It's nothing we need to retool, we just need to get digging in and focused and get back to work on Tuesday," Lewgood said.
The coach added that his team didn't work hard enough on Sunday and a better effort will be required to take one or both games back on home ice.
"We need to work. That's the key. If it doesn't hurt and it's not painful and there's no pushback, then we're not going hard enough. That's this time of year. You've gotta come out black and blue and it's going to take work. We gotta put our work boots on and take the play to those guys and not sit back and let them bring it to us."
The Bruins got to the quarterfinals by edging the Flin Flon Bombers 3-1 in Game 5 of their wildcard series on Thursday in Estevan.
Austin Daae scored twice, including an empty netter, and Pastachak added a single as the Bruins squeezed out a win in the deciding game. The Bombers, who got their only goal on Thursday from Paul Soubry, had taken Game 4 on March 11 in Flon Flon to stay alive.
