Second period troubles came back to bite the Estevan TS&M bantam AA Bruins for a final time.
The Bruins gave up three unanswered goals in the middle frame of their 5-1 loss to the Swift Current Kabos Broncos at Affinity Place on Saturday, which eliminated the club from the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League playoffs in the second round. The Broncos won the first game of the best-of-three series at Swift Current’s Fairview Arena last Wednesday.
“Second periods were a big problem for us all year,” said Bruins head coach Tom Copeland. “You really do have to adjust your game in the second period because this is a totally different hockey game (compared to other minor league divisions). It’s not easy to change especially in a league where you can’t ice the puck. It’s particularly different in the second period.”
After Bruins right wing Riley Niven and Broncos forward Rhett Evjen exchanged markers in an evenly played first stanza, Swift Current stepped up the pressure in the second. Evjen got things started 56 seconds into the middle frame by jamming the puck past Bruins goalie Zane Winter.
The Broncos controlled the play in the early part of the second hemming the Bruins in their own zone, peppering shots on Winter and forcing numerous turnovers on clear-out attempts. Evjen made it 3-1 near the halfway point of the frame before Riley Dekowny put the game further out of reach at the 12:58 mark stealing the puck off a Bruins defenceman in front of Estevan’s net and firing it past Winter who headed to the bench in favour of backup goalie Logan Nagel shortly after.
Despite only scoring eight goals in the regular season, Evjen notched his fourth and the final goal of the game 11 minutes into the third period.
Copeland said the end result wasn’t to their liking, but the players can hold their heads up high for the amount of progress they’ve made since the beginning of the season. He said the team’s future looks good on defence with the development of their rookies, in goal through the strong play of Winter who has a chance to become a top netminder next season and on offence thanks to the continued improvement of first years Niven and Turner McMillen.
“Turner played a big role for us this year,” said Copeland. “He started the game 200 feet away from the net a lot and the kid wins a lot of faceoffs. Next year he’s going to be ready. Some kids struggle because in their first year of bantam we hide them. They’re starting in the O-zone, they’re starting against the third line, but this kid he’s ready for it. He knows exactly what’s coming next year because it’s exactly what he saw this year.”
