The Estevan Bruins have fallen behind (3-1) in their Best-of-7 SJHL Quarterfinal series with the Melfort Mustangs, after dropping a pair of heartbreaking 2-1 decisions at home in Games 3 & 4 at Affinity Place.
In Game 3 on Tuesday night, Melfort’s Andrew Hunt scored at the 10:25 mark of the 1st overtime as the Mustangs defeated the Bruins 2-1. Melfort’s Vaclav Prospal scored with 7:52 left in the 3rd period to force overtime.
Bruins’ captain Jayden Davis scored his first of the playoffs from Isaiah Thomas at the 17:48 mark of the 2nd period to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead at the time. Keenan Rancier (40/42) continued his stellar play so far in the series, despite being tagged with the OT loss.
In Game 4 on Wednesday night, Melfort’s Ben Tkachuk scored with 50 seconds left in regulation to defeat the Bruins 2-1. Melfort’s Zach Anderson scored just 4:30 into the game, the first time Melfort scored the opening goal so far in the series.
Bruins’ forward Eddie Gallagher evened the score at 1-1 at the 5:00 mark of the 2nd period with his 2nd goal and 5th point of the playoffs. Jayden Davis and Alex Von Sprecken assisted on the goal. It appeared the game was heading to overtime for a second straight night before Tkachuk scored in the final minute of the 3rd period.
Keenan Rancier (23/25) faced his lowest workload of the series, less than 40+ shots for the first time this series. After four games, Rancier leads all SJHL goaltenders with a .961 SV% and is tied with Melfort netminder Shawn Parkinson with a 1.45 G.A.A.
An average of 1,220 fans attended the two playoff games at Affinity Place, as the fans showed up in great support of the hometown Bruins.
Game 5 is scheduled for Friday, March 13th at 7:30pm. The Bruins must win the next three games of the series to advance to the SJHL semi-final.
If the Bruins win on Friday and force a Game 6, it will be played at 7:30pm on Sunday, March 15th at Affinity Place in Estevan. Ticket sales would begin for Game 6 on Saturday from 12pm – 6pm and Sunday from 10am – 2pm. Stay tuned for details.