The nightmarish early-season struggles continue for the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins, as the club lost two more games on the weekend.
The Bruins (4-10-0-3) fell 4-1 to the Humboldt Broncos on home ice on Friday, then lost 4-2 in Yorkton to the Terriers the next night.
Estevan was sitting in last place in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League entering last night's home contest against the Melville Millionaires.
"I do believe our record reflects how we've been playing. I do not believe our record reflects where we're going to be or what type of team we are. I think we've earned the record we have today, but at the same time are more than capable of climbing back into the mix of things," said Bruins head coach Chris Lewgood.
In Yorkton on Saturday, Dylan Johnson scored the winner at 7:15 of the third period on a power play and later added an empty netter to lead the Terriers to victory.
Lewgood said he was mostly happy with his team's performance that night.
"I thought we carried the play for a good portion of it. I thought we started a little slow. We were on our heels a little in the first, but once we adapted to the style they were playing and made some adjustments, I thought we were able to push the pace and really take the play to them.
"Work ethic-wise and effort-wise, I thought we were really good on Saturday. (But) in the SJHL, a mental lapse here and there can be the difference in the game, and two of their four goals were breakdowns mentally and they ended up in the back of our net."
The two teams had been locked in a 1-1 tie after two periods, and they traded goals in the first five minutes of the third to set up Johnson's winner.
Cortlan Procter opened the scoring seven minutes into the first period to give Yorkton the lead after 20 minutes.
Keegan Allison pulled the Bruins into a draw at the 16-minute mark of the second period.
Just 2:37 into the third, Joshua Ellis scored to put the Terriers on top 2-1, only to see Bruins defenceman Zach Douglas return the favour two minutes later on a power play.
Shots on goal were 41-37 for Estevan, including a 19-17 edge in a frenetic third period.
On Friday, meanwhile, the Bruins opened the scoring nine seconds in, with Allison scoring on a drive to the net.
It was all Humboldt from that point on, however, beginning with the tying goal at the 15:49 mark of the first on a power play marker by Jarrett Fontaine.
The Broncos took control of the game in the second period with two goals. Logan Schatz put them ahead 2-1 just 47 seconds in, while Matthew Kenney followed up with the team's third goal at the five-minute mark.
Lewgood said the momentum swung for good in the second period.
"It was an incomplete effort altogether. I thought we carried the play for a good part of the first and third period, but the second cost us and in this league, you can't afford to take any period of time off."
The Bruins came out strong in the third period, but couldn't beat Humboldt starter Jack Romanuik.
With less than four minutes to go, Connor Scott closed out the scoring for the visitors.
The Bruins outshot the Broncos 31-22, but Lewgood said the team has to convert on those chances.
"The biggest thing is we gotta do a better job of capitalizing on our opportunities. Friday was an example of a night where we had lots of chances to score and just couldn't bury. We made their goaltender look good a lot of times. We also need to decrease the amount of unforced errors. We had some players being beat 1-on-1 where they normally wouldn't be and there were some mental errors that cost us."
Starting goaltender Brett Lewchuk made his return between the pipes after recovering from a knee injury suffered on Oct. 10.
Recent trade acquisition Taylor Ross also made his Bruin debut on Friday. The 16-year-old forward had been dealing with an ankle injury since being acquired from the Notre Dame Hounds.
After dealing with a long list of injuries, Lewgood said the Bruins are now completely healthy, with no significant injuries.
As a result, forwards Patrick Lyster and Connor McKenzie were released on Monday.
With the announcement on Tuesday that the Bruins will host the Western Canada Cup in 2016, Lewgood said the team will be patient with their core, rather than acquiring players to help bring them out of their current funk.
"I think it's important that we stay the course. I think consistency is going to be the key. We've been inconsistent thus far on many levels. Overall, we need to stay the course and stay positive and push through some of these things. We've talked about how good teams need to skate and find a way to win. We need to make sure we work hard for 60 minutes."
The Bruins' next action is on Sunday when they host the Nipawin Hawks (7:30 p.m., Affinity Place). They also visit the Weyburn Red Wings on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
