Despite earning a victory to begin the series, the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins just didn't have enough to take down the Battlefords North Stars.
The Bruins' season came to an end on Friday, as they lost their SJHL quarterfinal series to the Stars in five games. A 2-1 victory for Battlefords on home ice in Game 5 clinched the series.
The loss marks the fourth straight year the Bruins have been ousted in the quarterfinal round.
"I thought we played hard and had a relatively good all-around effort, but unfortunately we came up short," head coach Chris Lewgood said of the Game 5 defeat.
Cam Blair scored his fourth and fifth goals of the series for the North Stars, while Austin Daae had Estevan's lone marker.
Daae opened the scoring at the 6:40 mark of the first period, with Blair tying the game late in the frame.
The deadlock continued until halfway through the third period, when Blair scored the series-clinching goal on a power play.
The Stars outshot the Bruins 33-21.
Although three of the Bruins' four losses were by one goal, Lewgood said the Stars deserved to win the series.
"In the end, they were the better team. We could have potentially beaten them, had some other things gone our way, but we would've had to play out of our minds. The reality is most times when you play a seven-game series, the team that comes out on top deserves to do so."
After defeating the North Stars 4-1 in the series opener on March 15, the Bruins managed just four goals in the remaining four games, including a stretch of seven periods without scoring.
"It's hard to generate chances against that stingy defence. I see it as more of a credit to their team defensive game than a negative on our end," Lewgood said.
"I honestly thought our players generated the most amount of offence they were able to."
Injuries and fatigue also worked against the Bruins. After playing a five-game wildcard series against the Flin Flon Bombers, many players dressed in the Battlefords series despite serious injuries, while Michael Sagen (ribs) and Keaton Longpre (back) sat out. Sagen played in Game 4 on March 19 but sat out in the deciding game.
"I think it was a significant factor in our playoff season. We had very good players playing at a level lower than normal due to injuries and others not able to play at all," said Lewgood.
Daae pointed out the likes of Sagen, Austin Roesslein, Ben Johnstone, R.T. Rice and others playing through injuries.
"I don't think there was one guy that was perfectly fine once the playoffs got going. I'm pretty proud of everyone for the effort they put out against Battlefords. I think we surprised a lot of people with how close everything was," Daae said.
The Stars won both games in Estevan, taking a 3-0 victory in Game 3 on March 18 and winning 3-2 in overtime in Game 4 the next night.
In the fourth game, the Bruins scored twice in the dying moments of the third period to force overtime, but Stars defenceman Kendall Fransoo won it on a point shot 2:44 into the extra period.
"I'd rather lose the game that way than not have shown the courage to come back and tie the game," Lewgood said.
The Stars scored twice in the second period, both goals coming from Blake Young. He popped in a rebound 14 seconds into the frame and later scored off a wraparound attempt by Blair.
Just when it looked like the game was over, Daae scored on a backhand with 5:19 to go, then Tanner Froese tipped a David Robertson point shot with 4.2 seconds on the clock to tie the game.
The shots were even at 33 apiece.
In Game 3, the Bruins weren't able to take advantage of a strong first two periods and the North Stars made them pay with goals 46 seconds apart from Blair and Nick Fountain in the third period. Luke McColgan had their other goal in the first.
Shots on goal were 36-31 for the Stars.
"They were able to capitalize on our breakdowns. I think that the possession time and zone time was fairly even. At times I thought we carried the bulk of the play. But in the end, none of that shows up on the scoresheet and goals for and against do," Lewgood said.
The Bruins will lose eight players to graduation: goaltender Matt Gibney, defenceman Nick Egan and forwards Daae, Froese, Sagen, Roesslein, Johnstone and Corey Kosloski.
"Their contributions were immeasurable. They brought so much to the table on the ice and off," Lewgood said.
