By the time the buzzer rang on Game 1 of the SJHL quarterfinals on Saturday, the Battlefords North Stars didn't know what hit them.
With a dominant second half that saw them lose only two games after Christmas, the Stars hadn't really faced that kind of adversity since their November turnaround.
Indeed, early in Saturday's series opener between the North Stars and Estevan Bruins, it appeared that Battlefords might cruise to victory, as they dominated the first period and could have been ahead by three or four goals if not for the play of Bruins goalie Matt Gibney.
The Bruins were playing their sixth game in nine nights and struggled to keep up early on, just two nights after ousting the Flin Flon Bombers in the wildcard series.
The mighty North Stars were showing everyone why they were the easy favourite in the series.
And then, as the second period hit its halfway mark, the tide ever so slowly began to change. It wasn't like when the other guy lets you back into the arm wrestle before slamming you, either. The Bruins began to move the puck through the neutral zone and carry it over the line. They started to find their offensive mojo.
That process culminated in Tanner Froese's first goal of the playoffs, which was also the club's first post-season power play goal in 19 chances, if you can believe that. It was a breakthrough moment in many ways, and with that under their belt, the Bruins roared out of the gate in the third period with three more goals.
Once they showed they could exploit the North Stars, particularly their defencemen, the Bruins cruised in the third period, by far the better team, and made SJHL MVP candidate Michael Gudmandson look average.
It was as impressive a showing as I've seen in three years of covering the black and gold.
Alas for the Bruins, they could not bottle that third period and drink it before Game 2, as they struggled to find the same form and lost a tight affair.
The North Stars' forecheck, just as it had been early the night before, was very effective and put lots of pressure on the Bruins' defencemen, forcing them to make mistakes at times.
Gudmandson had a strong bounce-back performance and the Stars' blue liners made it tough for Estevan to get a whole lot going offensively.
The power play magic wasn't there, and while the Bruins' penalty kill did an excellent job in the six times it was called into service, it wasn't enough.
Game 2 did not have nearly the flow Game 1 did, in large part due to the officials feeling the need to call anything and everything that could, possibly, in some small way in an alternate universe, be a penalty.
That went against both teams, although the call that summed it up best came late in the second period when Austin Daae got a slashing call for a little tap on the boot of a North Stars defenceman. It was the kind of little, "hey, I'm right behind you" tap that happens dozens of times in every game.
On what the Bruins need to do in Games 3 and 4 back on home ice, Chris Lewgood put it best, saying the team left too much in the tank on Sunday and simply needs to work harder.
Contact Josh Lewis at 306-634-2654 or [email protected]. Can we just stop with the Lost jokes about Malaysia Airlines flight 370? The families of 239 passengers still don't know if their loved ones are alive or dead.
