The Estevan Power Dodge Bruins dug themselves a hole they couldn’t climb out of in their 6-3 loss to the Battlefords North Stars at Affinity Place on Friday.
The Bruins came out of the gate strong against the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) leading North Stars (33-7) matching the opposition’s high tempo and hard hitting attack. A penalty call on Bruins captain Lynnden Pastachak helped Battlefords notch the opening marker with defenceman Kendall Fransoo scoring midway through the frame on a wrist shot from the top of the circle.
Battlefords leading scorer Layne Young followed suit a little over two minutes later by tipping a cross crease pass from Ben Allen by Estevan netminder Nathan Alalouf. A late penalty taken by Bruins right wing Matt McNeil led the North Stars to a 3-0 advantage courtesy of a Keaton Holinaty goal with nine seconds left in the first period.
“That’s what cost us the game,” said Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood. “They weren’t vicious stupid penalties, but they were just unnecessary. They’re plays where we’re careless going after the puck. We got a slashing call. Previous to that was Pastachak gets an elbow up on a guy taking a charge at him. I mean you got to take one for the team sometimes. It’s much easier said than done, but those are 200 feet from our net and didn’t need to be taken.”
The Bruins bounced back in the second period on a couple of strong plays from left wing Jake Fletcher. The gritty veteran set up the first goal by Pastachak 2:15 into the frame by winning a battle behind the North Stars net before passing the puck to his teammate for a one-timer from the slot. Fletcher found himself in front of the North Stars net on the Bruins next goal three-and-a-half minutes later providing a screen on a Josh Rieger shot from the point.
“We’ve done it a couple of times this year where we get down 1-0, 3-0 this game in the first, and we think that we’re just going to be able to come back,” said Rieger. “That’s just not our game. We’ve got to come balls out right from the start and play that way the full 60 to win.”
The North Stars got back on the attack after the Bruins second marker with McGregor Sinclair eventually restoring the two-goal lead with 1:46 left in the period. Battlefords then gave the home side numerous chances to regain the momentum taking three straight minor penalties through the opening six minutes of the third period, but the Black and Gold failed to capitalize.
“We had chances,” said Lewgood. “We just didn’t do anything with them. There were lots of times we could have put pucks to the net when we had a net-front presence, but we’re too busy trying to break them down to the point where we have a wide open net by the look of things.”
Bruins centre Jason Miller brought Estevan back to within one 17:15 into the third period, but the club was unable to score the equalizer. Sinclair potted two into an empty net in the final 30 seconds with Pastachak, Rieger and left wing Hayden Guilderson taking exception to the last goal prompting a spirited battle in the neutral zone with 10 seconds remaining.
Nate Bedford, head coach and general manager of the North Stars, said they had two two-goal leads in their last game against the Bruins on Nov. 19 only to lose 8-6. He said coming out poorly in the second period coupled with a long break since their last game on Dec. 18 made him a bit nervous Estevan might stage another comeback, but the guys battled through the adversity and came through in the end.
“We went out in the third period and our whole goal was to make sure we didn’t give them any more scoring opportunities,” said Bedford. “Obviously they got one there late and that’s disappointing, but I thought for the most part we played well defensively, killed penalties and blocked shots.”
The Bruins (25-13-0-1) have one final game, a contest at Melville’s Horizon Credit Union Centre against the Millionaires (16-19-2) on Wednesday, before the players scatter for a week-and-a-half long break.
“We’re going to bounce back here for sure,” said Rieger. “We don’t want to go into that break on a loss. No team ever does. No team ever wants to be on a losing streak. We’ll find a way to get out of it and come back strong on Wednesday.”
