The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins have finally swept a home-and-home with the Weyburn Red Wings.
The Bruins defeated the Red Wings 3-2 on Friday night at Affinity Place, and then edged the Red Wings 4-3 in overtime the following night.
Estevan and Weyburn had five home-and-home sets this season. The Bruins won the first game in each of those showdowns, but Weyburn responded to win the next game the first four times.
All of the goals in Friday night’s game came in the first 10 minutes of the second period. Kaelan Holt scored 44 seconds into the middle frame to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Jason Miller doubled the advantage with a short-handed goal at the 2:49 mark, and Matt McNeil added to the advantage just 79 seconds after Miller’s goal, chasing Weyburn goalie Carter Phair from the net.
Connor Burk’s power play goal at the 7:07 mark of the middle frame pulled Weyburn to within two goals and Carson Rose narrowed the deficit to one at the 9:39 mark.
Weyburn had chances to tie the game, but couldn’t convert, sending most of the 2,244 fans at Affinity Place home happy.
The following night, McNeil scored 76 seconds into the game to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead, and Holt extended the lead to two with a goal 53 seconds into the second period. Cordel Larson pulled the Wings to within a goal with 58 seconds left in the middle frame.
Michael McChesney’s goal 3:03 into the third period restored the Bruins two-goal advantage, but Jacob Wozney and Aiden Wagner scored 32 seconds apart in the third to tie the game.
“Weyburn played a pretty consistent game on Saturday,” said head coach/ GM Chris Lewgood. “They were really good, and we had a letdown there, and they were able to catch some bounces. I think over the course of the weekend we might have got more bounces than Weyburn did, and that might have been the difference in the two games.”
McNeil scored his second of the game 1:45 into overtime, just 10 seconds after a penalty he took late in the third period expired.
Nathan Alalouf was in goal both nights. He stopped 38 shots on Friday night and 37 on Saturday.
Neither game carried much significance in the standings. The Bruins wrapped up the Viterra Division on Feb. 17, and have known for some time they will be the third seed in the league’s playoffs.
Weyburn, meanwhile, knew by Saturday night they would be playing the Kindersley Klippers in the first round.
“For our guys, it’s been hard to find motivation, beyond knowing that it’s the right thing to do,” said Lewgood. “Sometimes in those cases your imagination gets carried away, or your creativity comes into play a little more than it should, and the guys try to do more than they should.”
But the rivalry with Weyburn gave both games added intensity, Lewgood said.
The Bruins regular season will wrap up March 8 with a road game against the Melville Millionaires.
Then they will have nine days off before playing the Yorkton Terriers in a best-of-seven quarter-final series.
