ESTEVAN - The Estevan Bruins closed out the preseason with a 3-2 overtime win against the Weyburn Red Wings Saturday night at Affinity Place.
Third-year defenceman Kaelen Whittingham scored 3:17 into the extra frame to lift the Bruins to victory – their lone win in this year's exhibition slate.
Rory Elson scored early in the first period for the Bruins, and Reed Gramlich tallied early in the second to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. Jonah Bierd and Connor Frost scored less than two minutes apart before the 10-minute mark of the middle frame to tie the game. Frost's goal was on a Weyburn two-man advantage.
Benjamin Pohill made 34 saves, including 28 in the first two periods, to get the win in goal for Estevan. Dazza Mitchell had 30 saves for Weyburn.
The night before, Whittingham had the Bruins' lone goal – a marker in the third period – in a 4-1 Weyburn win. Keenan Ingram scored twice in the final six minutes of the first for a 2-0 Red Wings' lead, and Luke Dekay and Liam Donovan tallied in the second to up the advantage to 4-0.
Liam Hallet had 26 saves for Estevan. Angelo Zol had 26 saves for Weyburn.
Estevan dropped three preseason games from Sept. 4-9. The first was a 5-2 loss to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Virden Oil Capitals at Affinity Place. Virden scored three times in the opening seven minutes of the first period, and added another goal just over five minutes into the second.
Fin Klippenstein scored in the middle frame for Estevan, and Max Carlson tallied in the third. Hallet was in goal for the first two periods for the Bruins and made 23 saves on 28 shots. Polhill stopped all nine shots he faced in the third period.
Then the Black and Gold travelled to Aberdeen, S.D. for two games against the North American Hockey League's Aberdeen Wings. Estevan lost 4-1 on Sept. 8 and 3-0 the following day.
In the Sept. 8 game, the two teams were scoreless after the first and Aberdeen held a 1-0 lead through two periods. The Wings then outscored the Bruins 3-1 in the third.
Hudson Binder had the lone goal for the Bruins.
Aberdeen led 1-0 after the first period on Sept. 9 and maintained the one-goal edge through two, then added two insurance markers in the third.
The Bruins will open the 2024-25 regular season on Sept. 20 when they host the Melville Millionaires, starting at 7 p.m. at Affinity Place. Then they will visit Melville the following night.
