The Eagle Sky Estevan Bruins return to play Friday night, as the team travels to Cote First Nation for a neutral-site showdown with the division rival, Yorkton Terriers.
The Bruins enter the contest fourth in the Viterra Division and 10th overall in the SJHL standings with a 4-5-2 record through 11 games. The B’s will be looking to snap a two-game skid that saw the team play the top two teams in the standings to one-goal games over the weekend, just edged out 4-3 by Melfort Friday, and by the same score in Melville Saturday.
The Terriers sit third in the division and seventh overall, with an 8-7-0 record through 15 games. Yorkton is coming off a wild weekend split in Kindersley, which saw the team bounce back from an 8-5 loss Friday, with a 5-4 win in the rematch, Saturday night.
Highlighting the players to watch heading into Friday’s matchup will be two of the premier rookies in the league this season, in Luke Hogan of the Bruins and Vinay Junek of the Terriers.
Hogan sits second in SJHL rookie scoring with a team-best 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 11 games, having been especially hot as of late. Coming off a three-point (two goals, one assist) effort against Melville, all seven of his goals and 12 of his 13 points have come in his last eight games.
Junek sits just outside the top five in freshmen scoring with 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 15 games, but has also been on a tear of late. Junek was named the SJHL’s Rookie of the Week with goals in five straight and nine points (five goals, four assists) on his current six-game point streak.
Special teams
Yorkton’s special teams’ play has been a huge part of their early-season success, with both a top-five power play (22 percent, fourth overall) and penalty kill (85.9 percent, second overall) efficiency.
The Bruins rank ninth on the power play (18.6 percent) and ninth on the penalty kill (78.7 percent), but have been trending up of late on the man advantage in particular, with three power play goals in their last game against Melville and at least a single PPG in five of their last six games.
Goaltending
Between the pipes, Bruins’ goaltender Ben Polhill is expected to make his second straight start. Polhill is coming off a 29-save performance in Melville, and has posted a 3.53 goals against average and .885 save percentage through five games this year.
Yorkton is likely to start fellow first-year, Callum Creig at the other end. Creig stopped all 23 shots he faced in the last meeting between the two teams, and enters play with a 2.01 goals against average and .932 save percentage.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Because Friday’s game is a neutral site contest outside of Yorkton’s home rink, the game will not be broadcast on FloHockey. Fans can still catch every moment of the action on the Bruins’ Official YouTube Livestream, with the Room By Room Furniture Pregame Show starting at 6:45 p.m. and puck drop at 7 p.m.
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Marty Martinson/Estevan Bruins’ PxP & Marketing Director
On X: @MartyMartyPxP1
