ESTEVAN - The Eagle Sky Estevan Bruins' struggles after the Christmas break continued Friday night in a 4-2 loss to the Melville Millionaires at Affinity Place.
Preston Baerwald scored with a minute to play in the first period to give Melville a 1-0 lead, but the biggest blows were delivered in the second half of the middle frame.
Edward Knittig scored with 7:10 to play in the second to double the Melville lead, and Jadon Iyogun and Boston Harkness added power-play goals 2:25 apart to put Melville up by four. Melville outshot Estevan 20-3 in the middle frame, and had the first six power plays of the game.
Ewan Rennie scored for the Bruins 58 seconds into the third period, and much of the final frame was spent in the Melville zone. Kent Moors' goal late in the third gave the Bruins some more momentum, but they couldn't close the gap any further.
"I thought those penalties put us behind the 8-ball, and if you look at the score of 4-2, that's the difference right there," said Bruins' head coach and general manager Jason Tatarnic. "I thought we had a good first period, with a bad decision for a goal against, and then there was the power-play goals … and we had a good third period."
Zach Shaughnessy stopped 27 shots for Estevan. Nick Gennette made 23 saves for Melville.
The game was played on the same day as the SJHL's trade deadline. A comprehensive look at the Bruins' activity is to come later.
Estevan (11-16-3-1) sits 10th in the SJHL standings. The top eight teams in the league make the playoffs. The Bruins will host the La Ronge Ice Wolves on Jan. 15 and 17, and visit Melville on Jan. 18.
