Bruins complete post-Christmas sweep of the Red Wings
The Estevan Bruins scored three times in the third period to defeat the Weyburn Red Wings 5-2 Wednesday afternoon at Affinity Place.
The win gave the Bruins a sweep of the annual post-Christmas home and home series with their Highway 39 rivals.
After a scoreless first period, Weyburn opened the scoring on a seeing-eye shot by Jordan Gagnon just over six minutes into the middle frame. Devan Harrison tied the game with a point shot on a power play less than two minutes later, but then Alameda’s Liam Rutten responded with a goal 56 seconds later to restore Weyburn’s advantage.
Tanner Manz scored with seven minutes to play in the second to tie the game again.
It remained tied until the 10:26 mark of the third when Bruin captain Jayden Davis scored on a power play after some great puck movement by the Bruins with the man advantage. The Bruins stymied the Red Wings from there, controlling the puck for most of the final 10 minutes.
“I think we were just sticking to the basics, getting pucks deep and using our speed,” said Davis. “We have a lot of speed and skill on this team, and so just getting it deep and playing simple was paying off for us.”
Kade McMillen and Tyson Manz added empty net goals for the Bruins in the final minute to round out the scoring.
Keenan Rancier made 17 saves in the victory.
Two nights earlier the Bruins defeated the Red Wings 7-1 in Weyburn. In both of their victories, the Bruins held the Red Wings to under 20 shots on goal.
“It’s huge for us,” said Davis. “The standings are really tight. Of course we have a rivalry against them, so coming out here and getting those two wins is huge for us.”
Weyburn played harder on Wednesday night than Monday, but the Bruins were still able to pull out the victory.
Head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood said these were four-point games that they were able to win in regulation.
“It allows us a little bit of space in the standings, and now I guess the task is to keep pushing forward and play good hockey so we can create even more separation,” said
The team’s defence was particularly impressive Wednesday night considering they were playing with just five defencemen. Harrison and Austin King-Cunningham were assigned 10-minute misconducts at different points in the game, too, which meant they had to play with four defencemen for long stretches.
McMillen, Tylor Ludwar and Dayton Deics played strong throughout the night.
“I thought it was gutsy for them to be able to come together and fill those voids,” said Lewgood.
Estevan improved their record to 15-17-2-1, and 33 points overall. They now sit one point behind the Kindersley Klippers and the Notre Dame Hounds in the fight for the final playoff spot in the league.
Their next game is Saturday night at home against the Melville Millionaires. The game will start at 7:30 p.m.
