Coming off a loss may not be the ideal way to enter the post-season, but the effort displayed by the Estevan TS&M bantam AA Bruins in their 2-0 loss to the Regina Monarchs at Affinity Place on Sunday left nothing more to be desired.
“It feels good,” said Bruins defenceman Carey Levesque shortly after the game. “We almost had them. It’s just an empty net goal (to make it 2-0). It was a close game.”
The Monarchs (19-7-4) are led by 50-goal centre Davin Griffin and he made his presence known early by stealing the puck on a penalty kill, breaking to the Bruins net and deking to his forehand to try and beat Estevan tender Logan Nagel who rose to the challenge with a flailing pad save. Griffin added a few more quality chances on the kill, but he seemed unable to generate the same opportunities when playing five-on-five due to his Bruins shadow Turner McMillen.
With the score still 0-0 entering the third period, the Black and Gold made a few adjustments to limit Griffin’s prowess and create some chances of their own. Levesque earned the first about eight minutes into the frame with a shot from the point that Monarchs goalie Nolan Rae managed to save and smother despite heavy traffic in front of his net.
We were “just moving the puck faster when they came behind the net because once we take it out they’re always on us,” said Levesque. “I was just trying to drag it across the blueline and get the shot from the middle.”
Griffin finally found the back of the net 10:24 into the third period when Noah Kuntz sprung him in alone and the high-scoring forward tucked the puck past Nagel’s skate and the post on an in-close deke. He potted his league leading 50th goal into an empty net with 11 seconds remaining.
The Bruins (8-17-3) enter the playoffs as the ninth seed in the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League South Division standings and will face the eighth-place Notre Dame Hounds (8-17-3) in the first round of the playoffs. McMillen said the team has only one thing in mind moving forward.
“Win.”
