The Yorkton Terriers claimed their first playoff victory Saturday night with a 4-2 win over the visiting Estevan Bruins at the Farrell Agencies Arena. The Terriers stormed out into the lead with a three goal first period which sewed up the win, although the Bruins managed to battle back to come within one goal at one point in the game.
Jeremy Boyer opened the scoring for Yorkton midway through the first period with a short handed goal assisted by Brent Struble. Yorkton never looked back.
Riley Paterson notched Yorkton's second goal minutes later assisted by Nathan Murray and Devon McMullen.
Craig Eisehnut notched what proved to be the game winner late in the first assisted by Boyer who later claimed the first game star title.
The Bruins and Estevan netminder Shea Cooper tighten up their game, holding Yorkton scoreless for the second period and most of the final frame while scoring once in each period to pull within a goal of the Terriers.
Calder Neufeld made it 3-1 in the second period with a power play goal while Jonathan Ceci added a goal in late in the third to make things interesting.
Zak Majkowski added the insurance marker for Yorkton with an empty met goal with less than a minute left in regulation time assisted by Eisenhut and Brant Remenda.
Terrier head coach Trent Cassan explains Yorkton's first period scoring outburst as the team tiring of practicing against each other and anxious to get into an actual game.
In practice the players pushed each other hard in mini-games. "At the same time practising against team mates is not as good as actually playing an opponent," Cassan comments.
The Terriers didn't know who they'd face until the day before the game, so they prepared by practicing their style of game. Preparing different styles for different team would have been overkill, Cassan suggests, so he simply prepared for the way they wanted to play on home ice.
Cassan concedes that the Bruins came through a pretty grueling, emotional series with Melville. They played five games but with all the overtimes, it was more like playing seven games, he says.
The Terriers, on the other hand were well rested. His concern was to avoid becoming rusty in the extended layoff.
A finesse team, the Terriers cycled the puck well and everyone played the body well in the first period, Cassan states. "It's not the big hits I expect out of everyone. It's just that everyone to finish their checks and go through guys because we're going to have to take hits to make plays and we expect it to be a very long series," he predicts.
While he was happy with Terrier production in the first period, Cassan also admits Cooper performed well in goal for the Bruins, making some quality saves. That's why you have good goal tenders on both sides. I think you'll probably see all four goaltenders from both teams in this series," he suggests.
"It's been awhile since we've played a full 60 minutes and had to we haven't forgotten how to do that," Cassan adds.
Cassan scouted three games of the Estevan/Melville series, two in Melville and Game 5 in Estevan. "I knew going into that series Melville would give them everything they could handle. That's no slight to Estevan. It's the way the Melville team was built," he says.
Estevan is a battle tested team which could come back from behind. Even though the Terriers put together a solid first period, outplaying the Bruins, Estevan has been through that before. "It's a long game and in playoffs you're only as good as what you've done in your last game. You quickly have to put behind the game before whether it be a win or a loss," Cassan proposes.
Commenting on the performance of Warren Shymko in goal for the Terriers, Cassan notes, "I think sometimes you forget that Warren is a rookie and a first year guy. He's very calm in there. I think he does a good job of making himself big. He is calm and doesn't really get himself out of position. It's nice to have two goaltenders you have 100 per cent confidence in and the whole team does," he states.
Despite the long layoff, the Terriers have a number of players out on the injured list. While some may be getting close to returning and they all want to play, Cassan can't predict when they will be back on the ice. "Injuries are a part of the game and certainly you'd like to have those guys in the line-up but other guys have stepped up," he reports.
The series moved to Estevan Monday night. Cassan says it's like starting all over again because Estevan plays very well on home ice, he suggests. They use the home ice advantage very well with big guys protecting the puck well on the smaller ice surface. The style of play in Estevan will require the Terriers coaching staff to make some changes to tweak their strategy, Cassan says, while noting Yorkton has played well in Estevan this year.
The Terriers took a two game lead over the Bruins in the best of seven games series with a narrow 5-4 win at the Civic Auditorium in Estevan Monday night.
The first period looked like a turnabout repeat of Saturday's game with the Bruins scoring three goals to take a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Ciolfi opened the scoring early in the first frame with a singlehanded goal to give the Terriers a one goal edge.
Estevan replied with three first period goals, one each by Neufeld, Dylan Smith and Dominic Perrault.
Unlike Saturday, the Terriers rallied with three second period goals while holding the Bruins off the board in the second frame.
Ciolfi opened second period scoring early in the period with his second of the game assisted by Clarke Breitkreuz and Kyle McLeod.
Nathan Murray tied the game at three assisted by Braeden Raiwet and Ciolfi.
Ciolfi handed the lead back to Yorkton with his third goal of the game assisted by Raiwet and Troy Dumais.
Boyer added what proved to be the game winning marker, a singlehanded goal, midway through the third period.
Ben Findlay capped the game scoring, leaving the Bruins short by one goal to clinch a 5-4 win for the Terriers.
Ciolfi, recently returned from the injured list, scored three goals and added an assist for a four point game which earned him the first game star title.
With the win the Terriers take a two game lead in the series which returned to Yorkton Wednesday night.
