ESTEVAN - The Estevan Bruins delivered two of their strongest efforts of the season on the weekend to sweep home games against the Humboldt Broncos.
The Bruins defeated the Broncos 4-1 on Friday night and 6-3 on Saturday. The wins followed a 6-2 loss to the Notre Dame Hounds last Wednesday in Wilcox.
Both games against Humboldt saw the Bruins down after the first period. In Friday's game, Travis Bryson scored with 2:16 to play in the first for a 1-0 Broncos' edge.
Humboldt had the chance to add to the lead in the second after the Bruins' Zachery Burns was assessed a double minor for kneeing, but the Bruins killed off both penalties and then took over. Keagon Little tied the game with less than seven minutes to play in the second, and Blake Heward put the Bruins ahead on a shot from the point with 26 seconds remaining in the middle frame. Estevan outshot the Broncos 18-3 in the second period.
The Bruins continued to outplay the Broncos in the third, forcing Humboldt goalie Benjamin Motew to make multiple stellar stops. Zach Burfoot's goal with 4:43 to play finally gave the Bruins some breathing room, and Little finished the scoring with an empty-net goal 82 seconds later.
Motew had 33 saves for the Broncos, while Jackson Miller made 15 stops for the Bruins.
Humboldt seized a quick 2-0 lead Saturday on goals by Dylan Nazareth and Brayden Skogstad, but Alexander Papaspyropoulos pulled the Bruins to within one before the period was out.
Little tied the game early in the second, Brady Wilson put the Bruins in the lead midway through the frame and Heward added to the advantage with a short-handed goal. Humboldt's Spencer Bell pulled the Broncos to within one late in the stanza.
Papaspyropoulos scored on a power play in the third, and Ilia Chmelevski added an empty-net goal to finish the scoring.
Moments after Chmelevski's goal, a fracas erupted, resulting in more than 150 peanlty minutes being assessed to the 10 players on the ice. Most penalties were roughing minors and misconducts, but there were two fights involving the Bruins' Cade Kennedy and Kaelan Whittingham.
Miller started and stopped four of six shots. Hrdlicka came on in relief and gave up one goal on 23 shots. Aiden Fischer made 31 saves for Humboldt.
Estevan (18-19-1-2) will host the Yorkton Terriers on Feb. 2 at Affinity Place at 7 p.m. Then they will visit the Terriers the following night.
Several members of the Bruins will also be at the Showcase pitting top players for the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and their Manitoba counterparts. Little, Chmelevski and Felix Allard are on U20 teams. The Showcase is Jan. 30 and 31 in Winnipeg.
