The Estevan Bruins are no longer undefeated as the La Ronge Ice Wolves broke a late tie and pulled away with a 5-2 victory at the SJHL Showcase in Warman.
The Bruins got off to a great start as just 4:18 into the 1st period, La Ronge turned the puck over in their own end and that set up a beautiful give-and-go as Brandon Ambrozik set up Antoine St. Onge for his 3rd goal of the season to make it 1-0. Caelan Fitzpatrick also assisted on the goal.
That would be the lone goal of the opening period but La Ronge would get on the board with two quick goals in the 2nd period. First, Aaron Greyeyes snapped home a powerplay goal at the 7:13 mark to tie the game at 1-1. Then just 13 seconds later, a shot from Mason Bueckertt would deflect off the glass, bounce back in front, bounce off goaltender Boston Bilous, and snuck over the goal line to make it 2-1 La Ronge after two periods.
The Bruins got the equalizer just 3:07 into the 3rd period as Mark Rumsey snapped home his 4th of the year through a screen on the powerplay to make it 2-2. Assists to Fitzpatrick and Aleksa Babic on the play. That stayed the score until the 13:13 mark when the Ice Wolves took the lead as Joshua Singh went end-to-end and beat Bilous to make it 3-2.
Then with just over four minutes remaining, Bruins’ defenceman Nolan Jones took a 5-minute major for cross-checking which put the Ice Wolves on the powerplay for the remainder of the game. The Bruins earned a couple good chances while shorthanded but couldn’t score, then pulled the goalie for the extra attacker but it would backfire as Gavin Mattey scored into the open net to make it 4-2. Nolan Doell added another late goal to make the final 5-2 for La Ronge.
Boston Bilous was tagged with his first loss of the season, but made a season-high 33 saves in the game. Xavier Cannon got the win for La Ronge, also with a 33-save effort. Estevan went (1/5) on the powerplay while La Ronge went (3/5), including those two powerplay goals to seal the win.
The Bruins won’t have to wait long to try and get back in the win column, as the play the Humboldt Broncos on Wednesday morning at 10:30am to conclude their two games at the SJHL Showcase in Warman. The game will be broadcast live on SaskTel MaxTV and HockeyTV, with the radio call on Rock106FM.