Coming out of the Christmas break, the fourth place Eagle Drilling Estevan Bruins knew if they wanted to have a strong finish to the SJHL season and go deep into the playoffs, they were going to need to turn things in around in a hurry.
Since new head coach Chad Leslie took over at the start of January, they've taken the first steps towards doing exactly that. After losing the first two games by one goal to the top two teams in the Bauer Conference, the Leslie-led Bruins continued progressing forward with a pair of wins this past Wednesday and Saturday.
The first of the two triumphs came against the Sherwood Conference's top team, the Yorkton Terriers, in a matchup that saw the Bruins battle from behind to edge the Terriers 4-3 in a shootout. Estevan came out strong, carrying much of the play in the first period, and Mark Cross opened the scoring in the final three minutes to give the home team a 1-0 lead heading to the second frame.
Yorkton showed why they're on top of the conference in the second period with two unanswered goals to take a 2-1 lead into the third. The seesaw battle continued in the third as Lucas Stubel and Matt Dochylo each found the back of the net for Estevan to put them back out in front, only to have the Terriers tie things once again, sending the game to overtime.
The overtime period solved nothing and a shootout was needed to decide the winner. Both goalies stood tall in the shootout until newly acquired Bruin Jonathan Ceci finally broke the deadlock with a wrist shot that beat Terriers' goalie Warren Schymko glove-side and gave the home team the 4-3 win.
After the game, Ceci admitted he couldn't have written a better script for his first game with his new club.
"No, I don't think I could have. That worked out well; it came down to the last shot, the boys worked hard and it was fun," said Ceci who claims he was very excited to join the Bruins.
The victory over the Terriers was Lelsie's first behind the bench, and while he admits it felt good, he maintains the team's overall success comes first.
"More importantly, we picked up three points out of six against the top three teams in the league. I felt we could have had four; you know we're never satisfied, but it feels pretty good."
One of the main reasons the Bruins have been having success lately is the play of their goaltenders Joel Danyluk and Shea Cooper. That excellent play continued against Yorkton as Cooper got the call and was brilliant. Although he wasn't too busy with 24 saves, the 19-year-old was magnificent when he had to be, especially in the dying minutes of regulation when he made a huge sprawling pad save on a Terriers' three-on-one. Without that stop, Leslie knows the game never would have gotten to OT or the shootout.
"That's just the kind of guy he is; he's a competitor and he wants to win," said Leslie of Cooper. "Shea played well all game. There was one he maybe would have liked to have back, but he made a lot of great saves tonight."
After their big win over the Terriers on Wednesday, Estevan had a few days off before hosting Ceci's former club, the Nipawin Hawks on Saturday night. A little rest must have been just what the doctor ordered, because the Bruins dominated the Hawks, who were on the tail end of a southern road trip. Estevan out-shot Nipawin 44-29 in a 7-3 victory.
Calder Neufeld and Dylan Smith each scored for the Bruins in the first period, and they took a 2-1 lead into the second. It was in that middle frame that Estevan really blew it wide open with four more goals to make it 6-1. Smith, Cole Olson, Ryan Andersen and Ty Ariss each scored, chasing the Hawks' starting netminder Brody Hoffman.
Smith got his hat trick goal just two minutes into the third period to give Estevan a 7-2 lead and all but seal the deal. Tanner Dusyk then notched his second of the evening for the Hawks with just 25 seconds remaining, and the Bruins held on for the 7-3 win.
The line of Smith, Ceci and Calder Neufeld was dominant for the Bruins, combining for nine points. Having never played on a line together before, it was obvious the trio had instant chemistry, and Smith said it was something he needed to jump-start his game.
"It's nice for me, I've been struggling lately and I worked hard and the bounces finally went my way," he said.
Estevan will now embark on a three games in three nights road trip. The trip starts tomorrow in Battlefords, and includes back-to-back contests in Kindersley against a Klippers team that is seven points ahead of them in the Sherwood Conference standings.
"It's a pretty important road trip for sure," said Leslie. "The two games against Kindersley are going to be pretty big for us and we definitely need that first one in Battlefords."
