The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins' were rudely welcomed into their semi-final series against the Battlefords North Stars as the Best-of-7 got underway on Friday night.
The Bruins' never led and a late empty-net goal resulted in a 7-4 final as the home team took the opener at the Battlefords Civic Centre.
After defeating the hungry Yorkton Terriers in the quarterfinal round, Estevan knew that a more experienced, well-rounded and tougher opponent awaited them as the North Stars were the best team in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) by 14 points during the regular season.
The high-scoring affair got started early with Battlefords jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first 14 minutes. Owen Lamb scored shorthanded to open the scoring. Reid Delainey added to the lead on a breakaway before Lamb scored his second of the period to put the Bruins in a deep hole early.
The black-and-gold would bounce back before the intermission however. First, Jason Miller sniped his team-leading 6th goal of the playoffs to make it 3-1.
Then with 2:40 left in the first period, Michael McChesney picked top corner on Taryn Kotchorek to trim the deficit to 3-2 after 20 minutes.
In the 2nd period, the Bruins' struggles on the powerplay would continue leading to Battlefords extending their lead yet again.
Coby Downs converted a give-and-go while shorthanded to give the North Stars a 4-2 lead early in the middle frame. With 11 minutes left, Ryan Rosenberg's point shot made it's way through the screen to re-establish Battlefords' three-goal lead after two periods.
In the final period, the dislike between the teams that was simmering early on boiled over in a big way.
Just 2:35 into the 3rd period, Jason Miller finished a hit on MacGregor Sinclair and was issued a checking-from-behind minor with a game misconduct. On the play, Troy Gerein looked to fight Miller but Bruins' defenceman Evan Scott stepped in for his forward and dropped the gloves.
Halfway through the period, Bruins' captain Lynnden Pastachak and North Stars' defenceman Conor Jensen squared off for a quick fight.
Then with just over seven minutes remaining, Levi Barnstable and Keaton Holinaty got together for the third fight of the period.
Despite all the rough stuff, the Bruins' were only able to muster up two shots in the first 16 minutes of the 3rd period while down by three goals. Battlefords extended the lead to 6-2 with Delainey getting his second of the game with 4:45 left.
Estevan would get a quick burst of offence late. Isaac Embree finished off a nice passing play with McChesney on the powerplay to make it 6-3. Only 40 seconds later, McChesney would get his second goal of the game to make it 6-4 with 2:30 left in regulation.
But that's as close as it would get as Delainey added an empty-net goal for his hat trick to make the final 7-4. Final shots on goal were 55-22 as Estevan's Nathan Alaouf made 48 saves in the loss.
Estevan Bruins' Scoring Recap
Michael McChesney (2G, 1A)
Zach Goberis (2A), Hayden Guilderson (2A), Jake Fletcher (2A)
Jason Miller (1G), Isaac Embree (1G), Jayden Davis (1A)
GAME NOTES
- Estevan finished 1/7 on the powerplay. Battlefords finished 0/7 but added 2 shorthanded goals.
- The two teams combined for 136 penalty minutes in Game 1, 116 PIM came in the 3rd period.
- Estevan's Jason Miller (6G, 0A) and Battlefords' Ben Allen (6G, 0A) are tied for the goal-scoring lead in the SJHL playoffs.
- 1,641 fans were in attendance for Game 1 in Battlefords
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The two teams meet again less than 24 hours later for Game 2 in Battlefords on Saturday night before the series' shifts back to Estevan on Monday.
Thu, Apr 18, 4:30 PM
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