It wasn’t the start they were hoping for, but the finish was nothing short of spectacular.
On Jan. 28 the Estevan Bruins battled the Flin Flon Bombers who despite finishing the first period with a 3-0 lead, couldn’t match the Bruin intensity late in the game and ultimately fell 5-4 in overtime at Affinity Place.
Chris Lewgood, the Bruins head coach said that the opposing team was well known and that their team’s game plan was to simply build on the success they had during their two recent wins on the road.
“We were following a plan that focused on our strengths, not the other team’s game plan,” he said. “Our mindset right now is that we’re building for the future and into the stretch run here into the playoffs.”
A number of breakdowns on the defensive end, however, put a dent in the Bruins’ plan early on in the first period, as Brett Boehm opened the scoring for the Bombers with an unassisted goal. Tyler Bell scored his ninth of the season off an assist from Brandon Switzer and Joel Kocuroccur. Austin Evans scored less than 20 seconds later to give the Bombers a large advantage heading into the second period.
“I thought we were skating hard for the first period and our shot attempts were about the same, we probably just missed the net seven times,” Lewgood said, adding his players bounced back admirably despite the breakdowns that put them behind by three goals.
Keaton Longpre scored twice in the second period to the delight of the crowd. Michael Knaub scored six minutes into the second, assisted by Dustin Perrilat and Parker Evans-Campbell.
The third period belonged entirely to the Bruins.
Lynnden Pastachak scored six minutes into the third and provided an assist for Keegan Allison who scored less than 20 seconds later to tie the game up. A few minutes prior, a goal that was ruled as a high stick by the referees was met with loud boos, but Lewgood said his team did a good job of playing right through until the end.
“It was close enough that you can’t argue with the call,” he said. “Our guys were dejected for a second or two but they realized ‘we’re rolling here and if we keep pushing we’ll get another one.’”
Additional minutes were required to determine a winner. The Bruins did not disappoint as Allison scored his 18th of the season less than thirty seconds into overtime.
Lewgood said the play of the Bruins’ top players was a large contributing factor for the win.
“We’re a young team but we had two players with five points and one with four,” he said. “It was a great display of our veteran leadership.”
The Bruins’ head coach also praised the play of goaltender Tyler Fuhr, who stopped 30 shots, many of which came in the final period.
“He really settled as the game went on,” Lewgood said. “When we traded for him it wasn’t so he can be adequate it was because we wanted him to give us a chance to win and last night he made some saves he probably shouldn’t have and he gave us a great opportunity to win.”
