The Estevan Apex midget AA Bruins and the Yorkton Terriers are tied through two games in the best-of-five South Saskatchewan Minor Hockey League (SSMHL) final.
Josh Skjonsby and Jacob Palmer scored 46 seconds apart early in the third period to lift the midget AAs to a 4-2 victory in Game 1 on Saturday night at Affinity Place. But Yorkton responded three nights later with a 2-0 victory in Game 2.
The Game 1 victory for the Bruins was their first in four meetings with the Terriers this season.
“We didn’t beat these guys throughout the regular season, so it’s nice to get that first win,” said coach Blake Jamieson.
In Game 1, Dawson Schaff opened the scoring for Estevan with 49 seconds remaining in the first period. Tyler Shankowsky tied the game for Yorkton on a power play 3:54 into the second.
Both teams had chances to break the tie in the second. Skjonsby had Estevan’s best opportunity midway through the stanza, but he rang a shot off the post.
“We had a few chances in the second period that we didn’t score on, so it was nice to see those ones go in,” said Jamieson.
Skjonsby tallied 96 seconds into the third to give the Bruins the 2-1 lead, and just moments later, Palmer notched the insurance marker.
“We had a few chances in the second period that we didn’t score on, so it was nice to see those ones go in,” said Jamieson.
Palmer potted his second of the game into an empty net with 50 seconds to play.
The Terriers MacKenzie Flett rounded out the scoring with four seconds to play.
Bryson Garton earned the win in goal for the Bruins. He made several big saves early in the game, when the Terriers outshot the Bruins.
The Terriers opened the scoring midway through the first period of Game 2 on a power play goal by Reid Arnold. The Bruins had killed off a two-man advantage for the Terriers, but Bell scored a second after the first Bruin penalty had expired.
“We did a good job on the five-on-three penalty kill, but they caught us on the five-on-four,” said Jamieson.
Shankowsky picked up his second of the series with 4:33 to play in the middle frame.
Garton was also in goal for Game 2.
Jamieson said some Bruin players took the night off in Game 2. Yorkton also applied a lot of pressure.
“We seemed not to be able to respond at times,” said Jamieson. “We had some guys that were on board. The defencemen were under a lot of pressure, and our forwards weren’t coming back to support.”
Game 3 will be Saturday night at Affinity Place at 7:30 p.m., and Game 4 will be in Yorkton the following afternoon.
Game 5, if necessary, would take place on Wednesday at Affinity Place at 8 p.m.
