Harrison’s Heroics Lift Bruins To 4-3 OT Victory Over Notre Dame

Affinity Place erupted and the Power Dodge Estevan Bruins flew off the bench to dog-pile Devan Harrison after the defenceman scored a minute into overtime in a rough, fight-filled 4-3 victory over the Notre Dame Hounds on Saturday night.

VIDEO: Game Highlights

The Bruins were looking to avenge a 2-0 shutout defeat to the Hounds in Wilcox the night before, but it wouldn’t come easy against a strong Notre Dame opponent.

The visitors opened the scoring early as Jared Hamm beat goaltender Grant Boldt just 59 seconds into action to put Notre Dame up 1-0.

The Bruins would respond at the 7:03 mark, as Tristyn Deroose fired home his 5th of the season on the powerplay to make it 1-1. Michael McChesney and Will Koop assisted on the marker.

However, the Hounds would retake the lead heading into the intermission as Tanner Tarbell scored on the man advantage at 18:51 to make it 2-1 Notre Dame after 20 minutes.

It remained 2-1 past the midway point of the game when the tension from the night before and a rough start to the game boiled over. At 11:13, Notre Dame’s Jarrett Penner and Estevan’s Austin King-Cunningham collided in the corner and began shoving one another. Notre Dame’s Jakob Breault came into the mix and King-Cunningham dropped his gloves, connecting on a hard left-hook to Breault. After the officials sorted out the scrum, King-Cunningham would be the only player to receive a fighting major on the play.

Shortly thereafter, the Bruins would tie the game as McChesney beat Notre Dame’s Riley Kohonick for his 19th of the season to make it 2-2 at 12:28 of the 2nd period. Jake Heerspink and Devan Harrison assisted on the goal.

But the tie would only last 50 seconds as Cody Lehney deflected a puck past Boldt at 12:18 to put the Hounds ahead for the third time in the game making it 3-2.

And once again, the Bruins would tie the game back up. At the 17:02 on a delayed penalty call, TJ Irey put his stick out and beautifully tipped home Harrison’s point shot for the forward’s 12th of the year to make it 3-3 after two periods. Aigne McGeady-Bruce also assisted on the goal.

A vicious 3rd period of play continued between the two teams that have developed a fierce rivalry this season. After a pair of coincidental roughing minors, Notre Dame’s Marshall Wilton hopped off the bench and looked to track down McChesney near the penalty box on a rush. The two collided and Wilton immediately dropped the gloves, so McChesney did the same and the two started tossing punch after punch at one another. McChesney landed some hard shots in his first ever fight in junior hockey and ended up taking down the much larger Wilton, getting the crowd roaring at Affinity Place.

Just ten seconds later, Jayden Davis finished a hard check in the corner of Notre Dame’s zone on Hounds defenceman Charles Martin. Davis then was challenged by Notre Dame’s Curtis Wiebe as the two players were issued fighting majors, with Davis also being issued a major penalty for a blow to the head on his hit on Martin.

The Bruins were faced with a 5-minute penalty kill with just over six minutes remaining, but were able to keep the Hounds offence at bay and keep the game tied at 3-3 entering overtime.

In the extra frame, Bryce Platt would pick up the puck with speed through the neutral zone. Platt stayed wide down the boards while Harrison outraced his defender towards the net and deflected home a perfect saucer pass past Kohonick for the 4-3 overtime winner. Irey also assisted on the goal.

Grant Boldt (18/21) gets credit for his 11th win of the year, while Kohonick (28/32) is tagged with the loss.

Both teams finished (1/6) on the powerplay, while combining for 27 infractions and 146 penalty minutes.

A total of 1,021 fans were thoroughly entertained in Affinity Place on Saturday night, with the Certified Energy Services 50/50 jackpot reaching $3,325.

The Bruins now have six days off until their next game as they get into another home-and-home series against the Weyburn Red Wings. The Bruins travel to Weyburn on Friday, Jan. 18th and the two teams meet again on Saturday, Jan. 19th in Estevan, both games start at 7:30pm.

The whole league will take a 4-day break for the SJHL/MJHL Showcase in Regina on January 14th & 15th. The Bruins have 8 players participating in this year’s event, CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.