ESTEVAN - The Estevan Bruins' slow start to the 2023-24 SJHL regular season continued on the weekend, with a 5-4 loss to the Notre Dame Hounds on Friday night in Carlyle and a 2-1 shootout defeat against the Nipawin Hawks the following night at Affinity Place.
Friday's game saw the Black and Gold start sluggishly, as the Hounds grabbed a 2-0 advantage on goals by Alexander Hollands and Cole Wirun. Ilia Chmelevski responded with a goal just over a minute after Wirun's marker.
Wirun added his second of the game 35 seconds into the second period, and Davis Sato added to the lead less than six minutes later. Turner McMillen's first goal as a Bruins trimmed the deficit to two late in the second, but Matteo Speranza scored a short time later to restore the three-goal bulge.
Goals by Tyler Guy and Keagon Little in the opening half of the third pulled the Bruins to within one, but the Hounds held on from there to win the game and the Carlyle Cup.
Jackson Miller stopped 26 of 31 shots he faced for Estevan, while Johann Tremblay-Kau made 34 saves for the Hounds.
Head coach and general manager Jason Tatarnic said they were okay in the first period, "terrible" in the second and "fantastic" in the third.
This marked the second straight year the Bruins and Hounds have played a neutral-site game in Carlyle with the Hounds as the designated home team. The game was a fundraiser for the Carlyle Community Complex Foundation, which is raising funds for amenities in a new kindergarten to Grade 12 school in Carlyle.
"It was a good environment. It's nice to help them out with some fundraising. We're happy to do it and happy to continue to do it," said Tatarnic.
The Carlyle Sports Arena is a classic, small-town Saskatchewan rink, he said.
Miller said he also enjoyed playing in the rink. He believes he would have played in Carlyle at some point in house league play when he was growing up in Estevan, but not for a number of years.
"It was really nice playing in front of a small-town crowd," said Miller. "They care. It was really fun for a lot of the kids there, so I'm glad we could put on a bit of a show."
This week's edition of the Carlyle Observer will have more on the game, including photos. The photos and the write-up will also be visible on our provincial news hub at SaskToday.ca.
The following night, the Bruins mustered a stronger effort, firing 42 shots at Hawks' goaltender Damon Cunningham, including 18 in the second period alone. Their lone goal came in the second period on a shot by Jack Piper at the 3:54 mark.
The Bruins had numerous opportunities to extend the lead after Piper's goal, but were foiled by Cunningham and the goal post.
With three minutes to play in the third, Nipawin's Joel Mabin was hauled down on a break and awarded a penalty shot. He converted to sent the game to overtime, which solved nothing.
Neither team converted in the penalty shot contest until former Bruin Evan Forrest scored for the Hawks to lift his new team to victory.
Miller had a strong game as well, as he stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced.
Tatarnic said the Nipawin game represented a good carryover from the third period of Friday's game, and they deserved a better fate.
"I though we had moments throughout the game, and in the third we didn't take care of some loose pucks here and there and they got a little bit of pressure. But I thought we did a good job of containing and Jackson did a good job of not allowing them to score at five-on-five play," said Tatarnic.
Miller said it was good to play in a goaltender's duel like that.
"I thought I played pretty well. But a breakaway, and a shootout, that's not how we really want to lose. At the end of the day, it sucks, but I thought we played very well, and I don't think we should have lost."
The Bruins' (3-5-0-2) next game is Oct. 25 when they will visit the Humboldt Broncos at 7 p.m. The Broncos have yet to lose in regulation this year. Then they will host the reigning SJHL champions, the Battlefords North Stars, on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. a
