The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins are helping keep the goal-light industry alive.
With 13 goals over the weekend, the Bruins beat Yorkton 8-1 at Affinity Place Friday and 5-4 at Yorkton to extend the Bruins' lead to seven points over Viterra Division foes Melville and Weyburn.
The Bruins' 45 goals so far this season is greater than the other three teams in the division combined.
“The guys were really excited, especially after having a couple of days rest after that long weekend,” said Bruins' captain Jake Fletcher, who kicked off the weekend by scoring the Bruins' first two goals Friday. “We knew we could dominate Yorkton if we just played our game so everyone was just skating as hard as they could. We got really lucky and my line-mates worked really hard on both of those goals.”
Fletcher teamed with Kaelan Holt and Hayden Guilderson and the three created significant offensive chances virtually every time they were on the ice. Still, head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood saw things that weren't working well in the game.
“It sounds a little silly to say(winning) 8-1, but there were things we need to work on and keep working on against a team we should beat,” Lewgood said. “We don't take anything for granted... but we've got to clean some things up. At the end of the day, the guys found a way to win and found a way to make plays and it's fun when you're scoring and playing relatively good defensively.”
Bruins' Zach Goberis, Tanner McKechnie, Holt, Andrew Warhoftig, Michael McChesney and Nolan Ferguson each scored single goals in the game.
“It was a result of full teamwork, it wasn't just one person,” Fletcher said. Holt had three assists in the game.
The defence also contributed in moving the puck well Friday, as each blueliner added at least an assist except for Raihan Kheraj, who had an assist taken away on the second goal. Mark Edmands and Johnny Witzke each had two assists.
Matt Lukacs played well in the Estevan net, stopping 32 of 33 shots.
“Throughout the game, I thought Matt was our best player (Friday),” said Lewgood. “Despite us putting up eight, he needed to be good. The momentum shifts early in the game if they score. You never know what the score looks like if they score a goal that he could easily have allowed.”
After the game in the dressing room, Lukacs' fellow Bruins gave him the hard hat emblematic of the game's most valuable player based on some big saves he made earlier in the game.
“The reality was if he wasn't good early, then we may never have gotten eight.”
All told, the game's final score wasn't a result of any change of game plan, rather just evidence that the game plan worked to provide wave after wave of offence.
“That's how we want to be the whole year,” said Fletcher. “We want to be a relentless team. Just because we got up a few goals early doesn't mean we lay off and let them have any energy to come back in the game. We wanted to crush them when we could and we did that. New page tomorrow but we want to do the exact same thing.”
The Saturday game in Yorkton saw the Bruins shoot the puck a lot but struggle to score in the first two periods but make up for it with late goals. The Bruins went down 2-0 in the second but Witzke's goal on the power play at 17:45 was hoped to spark more.
At 3:31 of the second, Yorkton's Kaleb Bell scored to restore Yorkton's two goal lead but the Bruins went full steam ahead and got goals from Tanner Manz, Goberis and TJ Irey to claim a 4-3 lead late. Pulling their goaltender, Yorkton's Shane Sherban scored with six seconds left in regulation but Michael McChesney scored at 3:42 of overtime for the Bruins' 50th shot of the game.
Maxim Sidelnik stopped 39 of 43 shots.
The Bruins have a pair of games this week. They play at Notre Dame Wednesday and Friday against the undefeated Melfort Mustangs, 7:30 p.m. at Affinity Place.
