It took 20 minutes for the Estevan Power Dodge Bruins to find their stride in a 2-1 win against the Notre Dame Hounds at Wilcox’s Duncan McNeil Arena on Friday.
“I don’t know if it was some of our younger guys didn’t know what to expect on the bigger ice or that they just came out firing on home ice and we weren’t really prepared for that,” said Bruins captain Lynnden Pastachak. “We came out flat, but going into the second period we knew what to expect and changed our game plan and actually came out on top, so that’s all that matters.”
Pastachak said the Bruins players seemed to group together on the ice in the first period like they would at a smaller rink such as in La Ronge’s Mel Hegland Arena instead of using their speed and skill to their advantage on Notre Dame’s Olympic-sized surface, which led to the club getting outshot 14-6 and trailing 1-0 on a Colby Brandt marker by the end of the opening frame. Once the second period began, he said they got their feet moving, directed a lot of pucks at Hounds netminder Jordan Greenfield-Flemon’s net and went after the rebounds.
“We were able to really put the pedal down in the second and add pressure,” said Bruins goaltender Nathan Alalouf. “I think where we won the game was in the second period because that is where we started to find out where their weak points on the ice were and where we could get our options for our scoring chances.”
The Bruins controlled the play in the second period outshooting the Hounds 20-8. Although the Black and Gold couldn’t find the back of the net during the middle stanza, their offensive push continued into the third period with rookie right wing Michael McChesney tying up the game at the 10:25 mark. Pastachak scored the winner 19 seconds later.
“I got a pass from Kaelan Holt and went down and just skated up ice and by the time I realized that the D-man was beside me and we were at the red line I figured I had a step on him,” said Pastachak. “I went in and took a shot and it squeezed through, so that just went back to the game plan of putting pucks on net.”
Alalouf said the guys in front of him played a solid defensive game shutting down the Hounds top offensive threats in centre Ben Duperreault, who leads the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in scoring with 48 points in 30 games, and 38-point rookie sensation Adam Dawe. He said the duo were able to generate some plays, but neither managed to break through the defence to get a shot.
“They tried beating our D-men wide and we kept them to the outside and really didn’t give them much up the middle,” added Pastachak. Defenceman Josh Rieger “was pretty pumped after the game there because whenever Duperreault was on the ice he was on the ice. That was his job to shut him down.”
The Bruins (22-8-0-1) win over the Hounds (14-12-3-1) crossed off their first contest of a five-game road trip that will take them to Melfort for a date against the Mustangs (12-14-1-3) on Thursday before they head across the Manitoba border into Flin Flon to play the Bombers (17-8-2-2) on Friday, which they’ll follow up in Nipawin on Saturday when they take to the ice against the Hawks (13-10-2-1). A second contest at Wilcox awaits the club on Dec. 14 to finish off the trip.
“We’ve had some success heading up on these northern swings and we’re looking to continue that,” said Alalouf. “We got to stick to our game plan, just work for our chances, and that’s what we’ve been doing, and just continue to prove that we are the top team in this league.”
