A little adversity is nothing new for the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins this season and the confidence gained from these past unfavourable situations is something they’ll be relying on heading into Game 3 against the Nipawin Hawks.
The Bruins lost the first two games of their SJHL quarter-final series against the Hawks 2-1 and 4-3 at the Nipawin Centennial Arena on Friday and Saturday. Estevan has the opportunity to even up the SJHL’s fourth and fifth seed matchup at Affinity Place this Tuesday (March 22) and Wednesday.
“Both games we came out hard (and) we played our game,” said Bruins right winger Braden Oleksyn. “Both of those games could have gone either way. Us in the room right now, we know we could be up 2-0, just as we are down 2-0. Nothing has changed. We just have to come out and play the same way as we did down there because we played two really good games.”
The Bruins fell behind 1-0 a little past halfway into the second period in their first game against the Hawks on a Garrett Dunlop marker, which was followed by a Chase Thidium power-play goal 9:31 into the third. Bruins centre Owen LaClare made the score 2-1 19 seconds later, but that was as close as they would get.
Nipawin struck first again the next night on a goal by Jake Gerbner 7:06 in before Bruins defenceman Tyler King lit the lamp on the power play about five minutes later. Hawks centre Patrick Schmelzinger completed the first period scoring at the 18:04 mark. Nipawin’s Blake Fournier scored the sole goal in the second frame while short-handed, but a third-period push by Estevan brought the team back into the game thanks to power-play goals by Oleksyn at the 7:35 mark and Keegan Allison at the halfway point. The Hawks’ Grant Baetsen ended the game 1:56 into overtime. Estevan's Daniel Wapple stopped 65 of 71 shots at the Centennial Arena, while Nipawin's Kristian Stead made 59 saves on 63 shots.
“Most of their goals were scored off a 200-foot play where it’s coming down to our zone and they were able to score off the rush,” said Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood. They scored “three goals over the course of the two games where we were in the midst of a change and one to do with going from four-on-four hockey to five-on-five hockey. They had the short change and we had the long change and it cost us.”
Lewgood said the games were very similar for both teams as each played stingy defence while earning scoring chances on their opponent’s breakdowns. He said they passed up on some opportunities to shoot the puck in prime scoring areas and failed to crash the net hard to cash in on some rebounds in the first game, but did a better job of that in Game 2.
The emphasis to simplify their play, shoot from the point and collapse on the net during their power plays made a difference in the second game for the Bruins as they scored on three of their six man advantages as opposed to going 0-6 in Game 1.
Lewgood said Nipawin plays aggressive to a point on the outside during their penalty kill and, like facing any kill, if the Bruins get pucks to the net they can break them down and get them running. He said they have to move the puck to get them moving and once they’re out of position, they’ll take the puck to the seams.
“We need to just keep doing what we’re doing, keep working hard and just keep playing our game because it’s going to come,” said Oleksyn. “We just got to keep taking shots and pucks are going to go in for us. We’re confident. We only scored four goals in two games and that’s not like us, but if we keep putting pucks to the net we know we’re going to score a lot of goals. We just got to keep playing like we’re playing and it’s going to come for us.”
The Bruins will be without veteran centre Jason Duret, due to a sprained ankle, and high scoring left winger Landon Gross, who is out with a probable back or hip injury suffered in the second game against Nipawin, for games three and four at Affinity Place. Duret is out of the lineup for a couple of weeks, while Gross’ future is uncertain until the injury is diagnosed. Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League Regina Pat Canadians’ defenceman Jake Heerspink has been called up to the Bruins, and played in the second game at Nipawin, but no more call ups have been announced to this point.
Lewgood said Heerspink will play as they see fit, but they’ll continue to evaluate and will dress the lineup that best gives them a chance to win. He said sticking to how they’ve played in the first two games against the Hawks is what they really need to even up this series.
“The work ethic has been fantastic,” said Lewgood. “We got to continue to play hard and win battles and if we stay the course and play the game we’ve been playing we will win two games here at home.”
