After an impressive opening victory in the South Saskatchewan Minor Hockey League semifinals, the Estevan Apex Bruins came back to earth in Game 2 on Saturday.
Two days after defeating the favoured Regina Capitals 5-4 on Thursday, the Bruins struggled in a 4-1 loss on home ice at Affinity Place.
With the series tied 1-1, the deciding game of the midget AA best-of-three set goes tonight in Regina.
The winner of the series will face the Moose Jaw Warriors in the league final.
On Saturday, the two teams were tied 1-1 after the first period, with Regina's Matt Bohay and Estevan's Kaelan Holt trading goals six minutes apart.
It was all Capitals after that, as the first-place club scored two goals in the second period and another in the third.
"It's like we hit a wall in the second. We quit skating. The first period was fine; they got up 1-0 and we fought back and tied it and had chances. After that, we stopped creating chances and moving our feet, and they just smothered us. By the end, we could hardly get out of our zone," said Apex Bruins head coach Dalton Giblett.
Kaden Hintz put the Capitals on top 14 minutes into the second and Riley Woods added a third marker less than five minutes later.
Regina's Eric Arsenalt added another insurance marker with 11 minutes left in regulation.
Giblett said his club struggled offensively, with just eight shots over the last two periods.
"You're not going to win too many hockey games like that. Defensively, we did a decent job creating chances and getting to the net is where we didn't do a good job and that held us back."
He added that the team's work ethic dropped off in the second and third periods.
In the first game in Regina, the Bruins took a commanding 5-1 lead after two periods before the Capitals made it close.
"We were flying. We were hustling, outworking, we pressured their D and created a lot of turnovers," Giblett said of the series opener. "We had more chances than them, I think we hit a couple of crossbars and a post, but it all stems from our work ethic and causing turnovers.
"In the third period, we stopped moving our feet, took some penalties and they got back into it."
The Capitals opened the scoring on a Turner Ripplinger goal seven minutes in, but the Bruins fired back with three goals before the buzzer in a span of three minutes.
Dylan Lay tied the game with three minutes to go and added another just 14 seconds later.
His linemate Kaelan Holt made it 3-1 for Estevan with only one second left on the clock.
The club's top line continued to light the lamp in the second period, with Kyle Salaway scoring midway through the period. Lay finished off the hat trick with 47 seconds to go.
The three players combined for 10 points on the night.
Giblett said Lay's two goals in the first period "turned the tide" in the game.
Tanner McKechnie scored the Capitals' second goal on a power play less than five minutes into the third.
They added two more in the dying moments of the game, as Ty Barnstable scored with 2:23 to play, and Bryce Platt got Regina within one with only 37 seconds remaining.
Tanner Tytlandsvik was in goal for the Bruins in both games.
With Game 3 being played tonight, Giblett said if the Bruins can play much the same way they have throughout the playoffs, they can pull off the upset victory.
"We know what we gotta do now. Our back's against the wall and we gotta play better to move on. We can definitely play with this team and they're good games.
"It's in our hands and if we do what we can do, it'll be a very good game. The longer it stays close, the better it'll be for us," Giblett said.
"We've gotta concentrate on playing hockey, stay out of the penalty box and capitalize on our opportunities. We've played really well in the last month and we've gotta get back to that. We probably played our worst two periods Saturday in the last two or three weeks."
