The Estevan Bruins dominated in every fashion of the game on Friday night and rallied around a frightening injury to newcomer Zach Burns in an 8-0 victory over the Weyburn Red Wings on Friday night.
The Bruins were all over Weyburn in the 1st period outshooting the Red Wings 17-4 and taking a 1-0 lead into the intermission. At the 10:28 mark, Prescot Senger’s shot from a distance beat Weyburn’s Jackson Fellner for Senger’s 2nd goal of the year and first with the Bruins. Kade Runke and Aleksa Babic assisted on the goal.
The 2nd period would end up being a long one due to a scary incident midway through the frame, which came after a pair of Bruins’ goals. Just 1:20 into the period, Mark Rumsey would put home his 14th of the season to make it 2-0 with assists to Kian Calder and Mikol Sartor. Then at the 9:05 mark, Sartor fired a sneaky backhander past Fellner for his 8th of the year from Rumsey and Olivier Pouliot to increase the lead to 3-0.
Then at the 11:21 mark, new Bruins’ forward Zach Burns took a shot that deflected wide behind the Weyburn net in the corner. Burns got to the puck first but was driven into the boards from behind by Weyburn’s Nick Dobson as Burns went into the boards violently and landed hard on the ice. The hit drew a crowd around Burns lying on the ice, but it became clear immediately that Burns was seriously injured and calls were made for doctors and an ambulance to arrive. Burns laid on the ice and was attended to for about 20-25 minutes before being secured to a spine board and stretchered off the ice to be taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Estevan. Thankfully, doctors on hand stated that it appeared Burns was ok and was responsive and was being taken to the hospital as a precaution and for further evaluation.
When they game finally resumed, the Bruins would have a 3-minute powerplay after a pair of 2-minute coincidental penalties ended. During that major penalty, the Bruins’ would strike twice on the powerplay to increase their lead before the intermission. First it would be Rumsey blasting his second of the game and SJHL-leading 15th of the season at the 13:40 mark to make it 4-0, with Sartor and Pouliot assisting on the goal. Then at the 15:02 mark, Eric Pearce would score his 2nd goal of the year from Eric Houk and Calder to make it 5-0 after two periods.
The 3rd period would be filled with three Bruins’ goals and three fights as the physicality picked up even more in the final 20 minutes. The first fight would be between Kian Calder and Davis Chorney just over three minutes into the period, and just a few minutes later it would be Aleksa Babic and Ethan Whillans getting tangled up. Shortly after that fight, the Bruins scored another powerplay goal as Rumsey’s point shot hit the post and was put home by Caelan Fitzpatrick to make it 6-0 at the 6:55 mark. Sartor also assisted on the goal for his 4th point of the game.
At the 12:36 mark, Nolan Jones and Ty Mason dropped the gloves in yet another fight as by the end of the game, the two teams combined for 160 PIM. The Bruins would close off the scoring with two more goals as Fitzpatrick sniped his 2nd of the game and 12th goal of the season to make it 7-0 at the 14:16 mark. Assists went to Pouliot and Rumsey, who capped off a 5-point night with the helper. Then at 15:27, Keagon Little finished off a 2-on-1 pass from Cody Davis for his 3rd of the season to round out the scoring in an 8-0 win for the Bruins.
Boston Bilous (17/17) was hardly tested in the game as Weyburn could not generate any offence at all. Jackson Fellner (50/58) was significantly busier and played the whole game in the loss for Weyburn. The Bruins made Weyburn pay for taking penalties, as Estevan finished (4/6) on the powerplay. The Red Wings went (0/3) on the man advantage.
After the game, Zach Burns was released from the hospital with a concussion and minor injuries and was able to return to the arena and walk back into the room under his own power. Burns is expected to miss significant time recovering from the injury.
The two teams will meet again in a rematch on Saturday night back in Weyburn at 7:30pm.
