ESTEVAN - The Estevan Bruins appear to be regaining their offensive punch.
The Black and Gold scored 17 times in a home and home with the Melville Millionaires on the weekend, drubbing the Mills 8-2 Saturday night in Melville and 9-3 Sunday in Estevan.
The Bruins trailed Melville 2-1 midway through the first period on Saturday, but had a 4-2 advantage by the end of the opening frame, and then pulled away. Olivier Pouliot had two goals and two assists, and Cody Davis also scored twice. Nolan Jones, Mikol Sartor, Keagon Little and Mark Rumsey also scored.
Sunday’s game was tied at 3-3 in the second after Melville scored twice in 14 seconds, but the Bruins notched three goals before the period was out, and added three more in the third.
Zach Burfoot and Eric Houk each had two goals for Estevan, and Rumsey added three assists. Alex Von Sprecken, Eric Pearce, Caelan Fitzpatrick, Kade Runke and Little also scored.
Sunday’s game was also The Brick Teddy Bear Toss night. Just like the promotion before Christmas, fans tossed stuffed animals onto the ice after Burfoot scored the Bruins first goal of the night. The bears were rounded up and will be donated to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon.
Cam Hrdlicka has been in goal for the last four games, played in a five-day stretch. He made 24 saves against Weyburn, 38 against Yorkton, and 27 and 23 in the respective games against Melville. Boston Bilous, the team’s No. 1 netminder, has been sidelined with an injury.
Playing four games in five nights was challenging, said Hrdlicka, as he hasn’t had a stretch like that since he was at the U15 level, but he said he has been taking care of his body and doing the necessary stretching.
“I do the right things off the ice to make sure I’m prepared for each game,” said Hrdlicka, whose record now stand at 13-1-1.
“I think I’ve had some good stretches,” he added later. “Definitely some stretches in certain periods where I think I’ve fallen off a bit, and let in a few goals that maybe I want back, but the team has stayed strong in front of me and allowed me to get back into the game when I needed to.”
Head coach and general manager Jason Tatarnic said Hrdlicka has played great for them all season, and they have confidence in him against anyone.
“He’s a good goaltender and he deserves the success he’s been having.”
Tatarnic was pleased to see Burfoot scored twice on Sunday.
“I think he’s been playing really well and he’s been putting up some good numbers. It’ll make it tough for us as coaches with lineup decisions if he keeps going that way.”
Tatarnic believes the team is starting to regain the form it had before the Christmas break. The club had a couple of lengthy breaks, one due to the Christmas break and the other due to COVID protocols.
“We addressed a couple of things in Melville during the game, and I thought we got better as the game went on. Same with tonight (at home), I thought we had a little lapse there when they tied it, but you have to stay composed and not panic and just focus on the task at hand. I thought they did a good job of that.”
Playing four games in five nights also helps with conditioning.
“It’s a good indicator for us as coaches to see who has the drive and is willing to go the extra mile.”
The Bruins (31-7-1-3) will host the Nipawin Hawks on Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. and the Flin Flon Bombers on Feb. 4 at 7:30. Then they will visit the Terriers on Feb. 5.
