Facing one of the deadliest offenses in the SJHL and one of the fastest transition games, the Estevan Bruins were going to need their goaltender, Keenan Rancier, to be at his best on Saturday, December 14. Fortunately, Rancier gave them that against the Melfort Mustangs.

The 19-year-old goalie turned aside 31 of 32 shots, and three different Bruins scored, twice on the power play, for a 3-1 victory. Melfort got a goal from Dylan Ashe, while Tanner Martin stopped 20 pucks of his own.

“These guys like to play at a fast pace, which usually suits us very well,” said Bruins head coach and GM Chris Lewgood. “They pushed us quite a bit tonight. We found ourselves holding on a little bit, but holding on is part of it and we did a good enough job holding on that it began to work in our favor. As the game went on we carried the play more often.”

The Mustangs carried the play early, peppering Rancier with 15 shots in the first period alone, but the Bruins drew first blood. On the power play, the Bruins caught the Mustangs on an awkward transition, and Jayden Davis spotted Tanner Manz on the left wing. Manz drove wide on a flat-footed defender and opened up the five-hole, slipping a backhand between Martin’s pads for the lead.

Just as they did to Kindersley the night before, the Bruins held the Mustangs off the scoresheet in the second and held them to just seven shots. Early in the third, off a turnover at the red line, Tyler Savage snuck in behind the defense and finished off his breakaway with a shifty move to the forehand and an upstairs shot to make it 2-0.

Melfort’s push back was quick, and they finally solved Rancier midway through the period, as Ashe’s shot from the right point found a seam through traffic to the top corner. The Bruins power play restored their two-goal lead, however, as Griffin Asham-Moroz worked a give and go with Eddie Gallagher, ripping a shot upstairs and giving the Bruins the breathing room they needed. 

Though the Bruins upped the pressure from there, they took a penalty late and gave the Mustangs a chance to fight back. That was when Rancier really took over. 

“Bounces were going our way this weekend,” Rancier said modestly. “Obviously in Yorkton they weren’t going our way but they’ve been going our way these last two games. I just hope we can keep it going.” 

Rancier’s coach was more willing to praise his effort. “He was great this weekend,” said Lewgood. “And tonight might’ve been his best start with us yet. I thought he was he was fabulous again with his rebound control. He made some huge saves.”

Rancier’s late efforts, and the Bruins defensive game, kept the Mustangs from getting any further on the scoreboard despite spending most of the final two minutes in the Bruins zone. Estevan swept their first back-to-back weekend games of the year and will take a day off Sunday before facing the Notre Dame Hounds on Monday night. Puck drop is set for 7:30 on Rock 106.