The Estevan Bruins kept their hot streak going on the weekend by taking both games against the Melville Millionaires in dominating fashion on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
SATURDAY – Bilous; Bruins Shutout Melville 6-0
The Bruins scored twice in the 1st period to take an early lead on the road in Melville. First it would be Mikol Sartor scoring at the 6:07 mark from Cody Davis to go up 1-0. Then while shorthanded, Olivier Pouliot forced a turnover at his own blueline and showed off some sweet hands on the breakaway at the 17:39 mark to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes.
The Bruins blew the game wide open in the 2nd period scoring three more times. At the 4:29 mark, goaltender Boston Bilous sent a stretch pass to the far blueline for Eric Houk who set up Sartor for his second of the game to make it 3-0. Then later in the frame, the hottest player in the SJHL would score twice in 16 seconds as Mark Rumsey scored off a faceoff win at the 11:46 mark from Aleksa Babic and Keagon Little to make it 4-0. Then just after the faceoff at center ice, the Bruins broke out of their zone with Rumsey finishing off the rush by sniping the puck past Alexis Giroux to make it 5-0, with Little and Alex Von Sprecken.
Early at the 3:55 mark of the 3rd period, Antoine St. Onge would get a backhand shot off then pick up his own rebound and score his 5th of the season to make it 6-0 with Mason Smith and Kian Calder assisting on the goal. Melville wouldn’t muster up any great chances late in the game and the final buzzer sounded with a 6-0 shutout for the Bruins, their second shutout in a week on the road in Melville. 
Boston Bilous (23/23) earned his second shutout of the year in the victory, and improved his stats to a 1.90 G.A.A. and .933 SV% on the season. Alexis Giroux (43/49) was tagged with the loss for Melville.
Neither team would score on the powerplay in the game, with both teams going (0/4). However, the Bruins did add their SJHL-leading 7th shorthanded goal thanks to Pouliot’s 1st period breakaway goal.
SUNDAY – 6-Goal Period Leads Bruins To 8-2 Win On Halloween
The Bruins, and forward Mark Rumsey, kept on firing on Sunday afternoon with Rumsey getting the scoring started just 5:10 into the 1st period. Rumsey went end-to-end and scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season past Giroux to make it 1-0. Matt Millette and Dayton Deics assisted on the goal and while that would be the only goal of the 1st period, the dam would burst in the 2nd period as the home team scored six times in the middle frame. 
It started just 59 seconds in with the Bruins on the powerplay, as Pouliot would snipe his 6th of the season past Giroux to make it 2-0 with Rumsey and Sartor assisting. At the 1:48 mark while 4-on-4, Kian Calder went end-to-end and after fanning on his initial shot, Calder backhanded home his 3rd of the season to make it 3-0 with Houk and Billy Sowa assisting. Again less than a minute later, a point shot by Von Sprecken would deflect off a Millionaires’ defenceman and past Giroux to make it 4-0. Caelan Fitzpatrick assisted on Von Sprecken’s 3rd goal of the year.
At the 6:04 mark of the 2nd period, Melville would get their first goal against Estevan this season as Rylan Bruns intercepted a pass at the blueline and beat Bruins’ netminder Cam Hrdlicka blocker-side to make it 4-1. That snapped an active Bruins’ shutout streak over Melville of 1:46:04. But the Bruins would respond with three more goals before the end of the period, starting with Fitzpatrick finishing off a pretty passing play for his 8th of the season to make it 5-1 at the 9:36 mark. Keagon Little and Sartor assisted on the powerplay goal. Then at 12:15, Kade Runke banked home his 5th of the year to increase the lead to 6-1, with Calder and Sowa assisting. Finally on another powerplay, Pouliot would snipe a shot from the same location as his first goal to make it 7-1 after two periods, with Sartor and Fitzpatrick assisting on Pouliot’s 7th goal of the season. 
The Bruins added another goal at the 1:42 mark of the 3rd period, as Sartor cleaned up the loose puck in front for his 7th goal of the year to make it 8-1 with Davis and Von Sprecken assisting. Melville would score another goal before the end of the game as Zach McIntyre’s centering pass deflected off Bruins’ defenceman Billy Sowa and into the net at the 15:54 mark to round out the scoring in an 8-2 Bruins’ victory.
Cam Hrdlicka (10/11) earned his 3rd win of the season in net, but had to leave the game late in the 2nd period after getting tangled up with Kian Calder in his crease. Boston Bilous (12/13) came in relief for the final 24 minutes of the game. Alexis Giroux (13/20) was tabbed with the loss for Melville, as backup Jonathan Verity (14/15) came in for the final 27 minutes.
The Bruins’ powerplay found their spark once again, going (3/5) on the man advantage in the game, while holding Melville (0/3) off the scoresheet on the powerplay.
The Bruins (11-3-0-1) have won five straight games and will now prepare for a heavyweight doubleheader next weekend against the Humboldt Broncos (12-4-0-0). The two teams play back-to-back in Estevan on Saturday, Nov. 6th (7:30pm) and Sunday, Nov. 7th (3:00pm) and with both teams at the top of the standings, it should provide another thrilling weekend of hockey at Affinity Place.
