The Eagle Drilling Estevan Bruins proved just how good they can be in a convincing 9-4 drubbing of the Humboldt Broncos on Saturday night at the Civic Auditorium.
There was no shortage of hype heading into the game on Saturday. The Broncos, at that point were the top ranked Junior A hockey club in the nation, and the two teams played an excellent game just a few weeks earlier with Humboldt earning a 5-4 overtime decision.
The Bruins, and their fans alike, had marked Saturday on their calendars as their second chance at taking down the powerhouse Broncos - and they did just that.
Estevan stormed out of the gates and were leading 4-0 before the Broncos even knew what was going on. Ryan Andersen opened the scoring 1:10 into the first period with his 16th goal of the season. Ryan Ostertag, Ty Ariss and Tyler Spencer each bulged the twine shortly after to give the Bruins that four-goal cushion after the opening frame.
Estevan head coach Karry Biette said he knew his club was going to have a good start, especially after their performance against Humboldt in their last meeting.
"I thought we played well in the last game too, but to beat the referee and Humboldt is a pretty insurmountable task," he said. "Tonight was good. I thought we came ready to play right from the drop of the puck, and for the most part we played that way for 60 minutes."
The Broncos got on the board in the second period to make it 4-1, but that was like ticking off the angry bear. The Bruins added four goals more in a span of two minutes and 12 seconds. Ostertag notched his second of the night, which prompted a Broncos' goaltending change. It made no difference however, as a goal by Andersen and then two by Kyle Johnson made it 8-1.
Humboldt did start to play better hockey in the latter half of the second period, and for a while took the play to the Bruins, managing to score two unanswered goals. At that point it was pretty evident Estevan was missing two of their best defencemen in Joel Kot (shoulder injury) and Dominic Perrault (personal).
"That's two big defencemen not in the lineup two pretty big pieces of the puzzle not playing, so to come out with the victory is good on the guys that were in the lineup," said Biette.
With the score 8-3 in favour of the home team at the start of the third, the Broncos decided to go back to their starting goalie (Andrew Bodnarchuk) hoping for a change in momentum. It was too late at that point, however. After Jeremy Boyer for Humboldt, and Mark Cross for Estevan exchanged goals, the Bruins cruised to the 9-4 victory.
After the game, Biette re-affirmed that his club's success was a result of their excellent preparation.
"I had a good feeling before the game that everybody was ready," he said. "We had a good practice Friday, we had a good practice Thursday, we had a good video session on Thursday night so we had time to prepare, and I think everything sunk in, and we did everything we were supposed to."
With the win, the Bruins improved their record to 11-5-1-1, while Humboldt fell to 13-4-0-1. Estevan will try to use the convincing victory over the Broncos as momentum, but Biette said there is a fine line between doing so, and getting ahead of themselves.
"We've got to make sure that we stay grounded," he said. "We won a hockey game; there was no champagne in the dressing room and rings on fingers tonight, but at the same time, you've got to feel good about it and use that good feeling and momentum going forward."
The Bruins were also in action on Tuesday night when they hosted the Battlefords North Stars at the Civic. Game results were not available at press time. The next game for Estevan is this Friday in Yorkton at 7:30 p.m. The next home game is Sunday at 6 p.m. when the La Ronge Ice Wolves come to town.
