The Terriers saw their nine game win streak come to an end Tuesday night in Estevan as a 4-2 loss to the Bruins snapped what was the longest winning streak of the 2012-13 SJHL season to date. After two straight wins against Kindersely on the weekend at the FAA and another busy weekend at home, Tuesday night's game had all the hallmarks of the classic let down game. Combine that with the fact that despite its lower position in the Sherwood standings the Bruins have found a way to beat the Terriers before and you could see how the Terriers streak snapped.
Friday/Sunday against Kindersley showed why the Terriers are the best team in the Sherwood Division as they dismantled the Klippers for all sixty minutes both nights on their way to two routine wins. Klippers goalie Warren Shymko found his old teammates pulling no punches as the Terriers offense sent a flurry of shots towards the Klippers goal with 44 shots on the night.
Curtis Oliver stole the show on Friday as Oliver scored his second and third goals of the season, including the dagger with under five minutes left to take the game's first star honors in giving the Terriers an unlikely source of offensive punch. Austin Bourhis put the final exclamation on the win with his second to make the final score 5-2 for the Terriers after Kindersley made it close late on the powerplay after a very questionable cross checking call on Chase Norrish that ignited the rage of the FAA crowd.Sunday's meeting between the two saw a different goalie in net for the Klippers as Shymko was given the night off, but the same result was reached as another lopsided meeting saw the Terriers nearly double the Klippers in shots en route to a 5-1 win.
Brady Norrish had a four point night with two goals and two assists and Patrick Martens had three assists in the win. Dawson MacAuley was given the start in goal for the Terriers and was 2:30 away from a shutout before the Klippers scored a meaningless powerplay goal to end his shutout bid.
As aforementioned Tuesday was a different story with the Terriers making the drive down to Estevan's Spectra Place for a meeting with the Bruins, who were looking to overtake the Klippers for fourth place in the Sherwood Division standings with a win.
Estevan struck first with a Taylor Reich goal 4:15 seconds into the first period that gave the Bruins a lead for the first and second periods as the Terriers remained scoreless until a Kailum Gervais goal shortly after the third period started levelled things up and kept the streak alive.
Sadly, it was not to be as the Terriers third period magic that kept the streak alive on multiple occasions was not in the cards as three Bruins goals sealed up a 4-2 win even with Derek Falloon's unassisted goal threatening to make things interesting near the end.
Dawson MacAuley had 28 saves in just his second loss of the season, making his record 6-2 in games he has started for the Terriers this year. Estevan's Steven Glass made 44 saves in the win as the Terriers outshot the Bruins 46-32, Glass was named first star of the game and was the key factor in ending the Terriers winning streak.
The Terriers will now look to wrap up 2012 at home with four straight home games to wrap up the year. Melfort comes to town on Friday night before the Bruins head to the FAA for a rematch on Saturday in what likely will be an intense affair.
Second place Notre Dame will then come to Yorkton on Tuesday for the last game on the Terriers schedule before Christmas in a game that could determine first place in the Sherwood Division in a marquee matchup. After the break the Terriers will then host Melville in their annual New Years home/home series on December 30 to wrap up 2012 before heading to the Horizon Credit Union Centre on New Years Day.
A busy weekend is in order for the Terriers as their impressive winning streak comes to an end, will a new one start going into Christmas? We will have to wait to find out.
