ESTEVAN - The Eagle Sky Estevan Bruins dropped their third straight game to start the 2024-25 regular season on Friday night when they lost 2-1 to the defending SJHL champions, the Melfort Mustangs.
Reed Gramlich had the Bruins' lone goal – his first in the SJHL. He scored at the five-minute mark of the third to pull the Bruins to within one. Estevan had chances to tie the game – the Bruins outshot the Mustangs 16-3 in the third period – but couldn't get another puck past Mustangs' goalie Madden Mulawka, who finished with 27 saves on the night.
Mulawka wasn't busy in the first two periods, facing just 12 shots, but still came up with some big stops, including saves on breakaways by Cade Kennedy and Carter Onrait, and a spectacular save on Kent Moors on a two-on-one rush.
Bruins' goaltender Benjamin Polhill made 23 saves, including some timely ones in the opening 40 minutes that kept the Bruins in the game.
Logan Belton had both of Melfort's goals. He opened the scoring on a Melfort power play less than three minutes into the game, and he added to the Mustangs' advantage early in the second.
Bruins' head coach and general manager Jason Tatarnic said the club ran into penalty trouble in the first period, but he was pleased with the overall effort.
"Teams are going to have possession in your zone, and you're going to have possession in their zone. That's just the nature of the game," said Tatarnic. "I thought we played really well. It was not a lack of effort. There was some bad puck luck there, and we had some chances, and just didn't find the back of the net. That will come. It is a process, and as a staff, we liked what we saw tonight."
Patience remains a key word for the Black and Gold, he said. Four players on the roster had SJHL experience entering this season, so there is a feeling-out process. The evaluations continue, and they're looking for the right 25-player mix.
Keiran Ronan and Bo Doxtator made their SJHL debuts and impressed, Tatarnic said. Both are 20-year-old defencemen who were acquired last week. Forward Cody Polumbus also made his Bruin debut and Tatarnic thought Polumbus looked good with his speed.
Forwards Brady Wilson, Finn Klippenstein and Khan Dhaliwal, and defenceman Michael Carter all missed the Melfort game due to injury and Tatarnic said there is no timetable for their respective returns.
The Bruins will be back on the ice when they host the Nipawin Hawks on Oct. 4 and the Flin Flon Bombers the following night. Both games will start at 7 p.m.
Video courtesy of IKS Media.
