ruins 46-25 at the Farrell Agencies Arena Wednesday night to take a three game lead in the best of seven series. The Terriers narrowly edged out the Bruins 3-2 with a clutch late third period goal for the come-from-behind win.
Estevan took a one goal first period lead on a goal by Troy Hunter which held until Jonathan Ceci made it 2-0 for the Bruins late in the second period.
With less than a minute left in the second period Robbie Ciolfi lit up the scoreboard for Yorkton to pull the Terriers within one assisted by Nathan Murray and Clarke Breitkreuz.
Breitkreuz tied the game with a short handed marker midway through the third period assisted by Justin Buzzeo.
Brenden Poncelet notched the game winning goal with a little more than a minute remaining in regulation time assisted by Devon McMullen and Murray.
The 3-2 win gave the Terriers a three game edge as the series returned to Estevan
The Terriers and goalie Devin Peters brought their A game to Estevan Friday night as they potted six goals while limiting Estevan's scoring to a single first period goal.
Buzzeo had a stellar night scoring a hat trick and earning an assist for a four point night. He opened the scoring early in the first period assisted by Breitkreuz and Braeden Raiwet.
Ciolfi, who had a three point game with a pair of goals and an assist, made it 2-0 for Yorkton late in the first assisted by Brant Remenda and Kyle McLeod.
Buzzeo dominated scoring in the second period with a pair of goals to give Yorkton a 4-1 lead after two periods. The first, a powerplay marker, earned assists for Ciolfi and Remenda. Zak Maj-kowski and Boyer earned assists for Buzzeo's second.
Murray added Yorkton's fifth goal early in the final frame assisted by Buzzeo.
Ciolfi capped the game scoring midway through the third with his second goal of the game assisted by Breitkreuz and Kurtis Decker to clinch the 6-1 win.
Yorkton Terrier head coach Trent Cassan says he was happy with the series outcome. Even though the Terriers swept the series in four games, he believes it was a tougher series than the sweep would indicate. The first couple of games could have gone either way, he suggests. "Even though we did win four straight, I still thought Estevan pushed us really hard," he comments.
Cassan credits both goal tenders with some solid play. "There were some situations where maybe two or three shifts they didn't get any shots. Then they'd come down and get a flurry of them and our guys were sharp the whole series long," he reports.
Cassan gives credit to a player who returned from an extended injury layoff and typically doesn't get a lot of attention. Sam Rockwell who's been out since mid-January and doesn't put up many points on the board, performed pretty effectively in the first playoff series.
Buzzeo, who missed the two opening games, came back and scored the short handed goal to tie Game 3. "Then in Game 4 he was back to full stride to what we're used to seeing from him," Cassan states.
He suggests Ciolfi was one of the best players in the series for Yorkton. "Even in that small rink he went hard to the net to score some goals and scored a lot of big goals for us in that series," Cassan points out.
Cassan anticipates the series with the Klippers will be a long, gruelling and tough series with a lot of ups and downs for both teams. The teams are evenly matched, he feels. "They're a very similar team to us with their speed their offensive ability," he says.
Occasionally when teams have highly effective offensive players, some very good defensemen and goaltenders can be overlooked in the series, Cassan notes.
He admits when facing a team of Kindersley's calibre adjustments may be necessary, though at present he'll be preparing his team to play their game.
Currently neither team has the edge in regular season play. The teams are both 3-2-1 against each other. "We won two of three here and they won two of three at home and one of them was in overtime," Cassan closes.
The Terrier sweep of the best of seven games series in four straight games surprised some local hockey pundits who predicted a tough, drawn out series. The win advances Yorkton to the Sherwood Conference final against the Kinder-sley Klippers. with the first two games in the best of seven series to go Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19 at the Farrell Agencies Arena at 7:30 p.m.
