The Apex Bruins midget AA team got off on the right foot last weekend with a 4-0 win over the fifth place Regina Rangers.
The Bruins hosted the Rangers at Affinity Place on Saturday as the teams returned to regular season action following a break for the holidays.
Cam Lavoie recorded his first shutout of the season for the Bruins, turning away 27 shots, including a 12-save performance in the third to keep the Rangers’ shooters at bay.
The teams made it through a scoreless first period before Estevan broke the stalemate open nearly 14 minutes into the second on a goal by Mitchell Morrison. Kale Martens and Josh Giblett picked up assists on what would become the game-winning goal.
Once they scored, the Bruins didn’t waste time stretching the lead as a minute and a half later Marc Shaw gave the home team a cushion on a marker assisted by Josh Skjonsby and Cole Piche.
With just 33 seconds left in the middle frame, Giblett picked up another assist on a Wyatt Bayliss goal, which left the Bruins with a 3-0 lead heading into the third.
In the third period, the Bruins recorded one final tally on a goal by Colton Winton.
The Bruins hosted a second game on the weekend as the Melville Millionaires also made the trip to the Energy City for a Sunday contest. The Millionaires sit one spot back of Estevan in the standings and the Bruins let them know why, hammering the road team 9-4.
Over the course of the game, it was the Bruins’ power play that was the stand out, as they made the Millionaires pay dearly for the seven penalties they took, scoring five goals. The Mils on the other hand scored once on seven attempts.
It was the Millionaires who got on the board first when Brooks Fleury scored just over seven minutes into the game. They maintained the one-goal advantage until the 17:05 mark of the opening period, when Skjonsby tied it witht eh Bruins’ first power play marker.
Less than three minutes into the second, Shaw gave the Bruins the lead on another power play goal. Melville got one back, but shortly after, the Bruins scored three unanswered from Skjonsby, Giblett and Erik McKersie to give the home team a 5-2 lead going into the third.
Brady Long stretched that lead early in the final period before the Millionaires got two back.
Peyton Stevenson sucked any life the opponents had however, scoring 34 seconds later, and in the final three minutes, the difference was stretched further with McKersie’s second of the game and another power play goal from Matt Bill.
Landon Audet was in goal for the Bruins stopping 29 of 33 shots.
Prior to the break on Dec. 30, the Bruins were in eighth place with a 9-10-2 record and were invited into the provincial playoffs as the eighth and final team set to face the first-place Regina Capitals. That two-game, total-goals series must be completed by Jan. 18.
