The Estevan Bruins were unable to get November started off on the right foot on Friday night, as the home squad were shutout 3-0 by Riley Kohonick and the Notre Dame Hounds.
It was the first meeting of the season between the two clubs with both teams looking to climb up the standings after below .500 records to start the year.
Notre Dame would capitalize on two early-game powerplays to get the scoring started. At the 4:49 mark, a shot by Hardy Wagner was blocked in front by a Bruins’ player but the deflected puck then bounced off the helmet of Notre Dame’s Braydon Iwaschuk and past Bruins’ goaltender Keenan Rancier to open the scoring at 1-0.
The goal was also scored during a delayed penalty to Estevan, so Notre Dame returned with a fresh man advantage. At 6:10, Hounds’ captain Jared Hamm fired a shot past a screened Rancier to go ahead 2-0 early.
Then at the 17:30 mark off an offensive zone faceoff for Notre Dame, Wagner quickly snapped a shot past Rancier for his 3rd point of the period to make it 3-0 Notre Dame after 20 minutes of play, despite Estevan leading 16-10 in shots.
At the 19:39 mark of the opening period, the Bruins would see their first fighting major of the year. After Notre Dame’s Nolan Corrado instigated a scrum provoking Estevan’s Austin King-Cunningham, Corrado and rookie Bruins forward Troy Hamilton fell to the ice and shed the mitts. The two would trade shots briefly before falling to the ice once again and were eventually broken up by the linesmen.
The Bruins would earn two powerplay opportunities in the 2nd period to get back into the game, but were unable to beat Kohonick as it remained 3-0 heading into the 3rd period.
Again in the final frame, the Bruins offence mustered up plenty of shots but none could beat Kohonick as the Hounds’ skated off with a 3-0 win at Affinity Place.
Keenan Rancier (30/33) was tagged with the loss for Estevan despite another solid outing in goal, while Riley Kohonick (38/38) was perfect in net for Notre Dame.
The Bruins were unsuccessful (0/6) on their powerplay chances, while Notre Dame finished at (2/4).
The two teams will renew hostilities on Tuesday night in a neutral-site game in Southey, home to Bruins’ forwards Tanner and Tyson Manz. The game will start at 7:30pm with plenty of festivities going on throughout the game.