Although they didn't show much rust upon their return from a 10-day break, the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins didn't get any points either.
The Bruins lost all three of their games last week, falling 3-1 to the Flin Flon Bombers on Wednesday, 4-1 to the Melfort Mustangs on Friday and 5-1 to the Yorkton Terriers on Sunday.
The Bruins sat tied for third place in the Viterra Division with a 3-5-1-1 record entering last night's action.
In Yorkton, just as they had in their previous two games, the Bruins started strong, but the game got away from them after the first period.
Darcy DeRoose got Estevan on the board midway through the first.
The Terriers would grab the lead in the second though, as Tyson Enzie and Josh Ellis scored to put them up 2-1 in a period that saw Yorkton fire 25 shots at Bruins starter Matt Gibney.
It was all Yorkton in the third as well, with Derek Falloon, Tyler Giebel and Brady Norrish adding to the lead.
"We didn't work hard enough. We had a great first period, came out strong, really took the play to Yorkton in the first, then we took the foot off the gas and the roles were reversed," said Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood.
He noted that Gibney, who stopped 42 of 47 shots as opposed to the 30 shots the Bruins directed toward Terriers goaltender Kale Thomson, was the only bright spot for the visitors.
"We just have to get back to working hard. (Sunday) was the first real downer as far as our work ethic goes. Guys can't get comfortable losing. This time of year, we expect there's going to be some wins and losses and ups and downs but we can't be complacent. We have to work through it," Lewgood said.
On Friday, the Bruins outshot the Mustangs 44-31 and carried the play for most of the night, but couldn't translate that into goals.
Austin Daae had the club's lone marker with less than four minutes to play, stealing the puck in the corner before walking out and beating goaltender Jack Romanuik short side.
Bruins assistant coach Darnell Glass said it would have helped if other players showed the patience around the net that Daae did on the goal.
"I think that happens when you're maybe struggling to score. Guys start feeling the pressure, 'I really gotta bear down,' the stick's going to squeeze a bit hard and that's when the guys like Daae do have to come through and give us a big one."
Despite generating plenty of dangerous chances in the first period, the Bruins came away from the first 20 minutes scoreless, while the Mustangs scored twice.
"These are games where we feel we deserved a better fate. We carried the play for a large portion of the game and we had chance upon chance. We were a little snakebitten and ran into some goalies who were playing well," Glass said of the Melfort and Flin Flon games.
Anthony Pickering scored on a delayed penalty for the Mustangs less than six minutes in, just seconds after DeRoose and Hudson Morrison each had a golden opportunity at the other end, and Lane Harbor beat Gibney blocker side with just over a minute remaining.
"Those are the tough ones to deal with because if we get that bounce in the offensive zone, we don't have to worry about those (not) going in. Those are the tough ones to rebound from. That kinda deflates the bench," Glass said of the momentum shift on the first goal.
After a scoreless second period, the Mustangs padded their lead at 12:26 of the third on a Tristan Frei goal.
Against the Bombers on Wednesday, the Bruins came out on fire in the first period but failed to score in the first 40 minutes.
Corey Kosloski had their goal, with Parker Evans-Campbell, Brock Hounsell and Cam Blair tallying for Flin Flon.
RT Rice continued his recent transition to defence last week, a role he has impressed in so far.
"He was a good forward for us, but he's a great defenceman as well. It's always nice to have those guys who can play both. He's a big, strong kid who is fearless out there. He'll block shots, he'll make the hit, he'll do anything to make the play," Glass said.
"He's been good early on (on defence) and I think he's only going to grow with the more time you give him back there. I'm running the D and I don't want to let him go back up front," he laughed.
Defenceman Nolan Nicholas and winger Connor McKenzie will both miss some time with injuries. McKenzie hurt his hand during a fight in the Flin Flon game, while Nicholas was injured Oct. 5 in La Ronge. Glass said Nicholas has resumed skating and shooting pucks.
The Bruins are on the road this week. They visited Nipawin last night and will play in Melfort tonight and Flin Flon tomorrow.
