NORTH BATTLEFORD - Four unanswered goals in the second and third periods lifted the Estevan Bruins to a 4-1 win over the Battlefords North Stars on the road Tuesday night.
The game was a battle between two of the top teams in the SJHL, and it was a closely-fought contest throughout in sharp contrast to Estevan's 9-0 hammering of Melville on Saturday night. It wasn't until late in the third period that the Bruins were finally able to shake the North Stars.
The first period was scoreless until the 18:10 mark when North Stars’ Jordan Grill got his second of the season, with Matthew Henry assisting, for a 1-0 lead.
Then the Bruins tied it in the second period with a power play goal by Mark Rumsey, with netminder Boston Bilous getting the assist at the 7:46 mark.
The game stayed tied until the 9:54 mark when the Bruins’ Rumsey gave them the lead with his seventh of the season. Olivier Pouliot and Dayton Deics got the assists.
Pouliot broke the game open for the Bruins with a power play goal at 17:32 from Rumsey and Deics. Nikolai Sartor’s empty net goal at 19:13 finished the scoring.
Frustrations started to boil over in the third period as Kian Calder of the Bruins and Ethan Scriven of the North Stars engaged in a scrap in the third period. Both got major fighting and game misconduct penalties.
Shots on goal in the game favoured the Bruins 37-34. Bilous got the win for the Bruins while Ulrik Roussel took the loss for the North Stars.
The Bruins are back in action Wednesday in Kindersley while the North Stars are home again Friday versus Humboldt.
