ESTEVAN - The Estevan Bruins had another strong showing in their latest jaunt through northeast Saskatchewan.
Following a 4-0 defeat at the Melfort Mustangs on Wednesday night, the Black and Gold won two straight games against the Nipawin Hawks, taking a 4-2 decision Friday night and a 4-3 shootout victory on Saturday.
"I thought we played really well [in Nipawin], we outshot the opposition both games and I thought we were the better team in both of them," said head coach and general manager Jason Tatarnic.
After a scoreless first period in Wednesday's game, Zac Somers and David Coyle scored less than four minutes apart in the second period to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead. It remained a two-goal contest until the Mustangs had goals by Logan Belton and Wyatt Day in the second half of the third. Day's goal was into an empty net.
"That was a game that we had a long chat about," said Tatarnic. "So, we talked about having that compete level higher in each shift. It should have served as a good lesson for us on how hard you have to compete each game."
Cam Hrdlicka made 20 saves for the Bruins in the loss. Kristian Coombs stopped all 27 shots he faced for Melfort.
In Friday night's victory in Nipawin, Zachery Burns scored twice for the Bruins, including the game-winning goal with 4:12 to play in the second.
The game was tied at 2-2 after the first period, with Burns and Tristan Dussault scoring for Estevan. Braeden Jockims and Finley Radloff tallied for the Hawks.
After Burns' goal in the second, it remained a 3-2 game until Owen Barrow scored into an empty net with 22 seconds to play to clinch Estevan's win.
Estevan outshot Nipawin 42-27, with Jackson Miller stopping 25 shots for Estevan and Damon Cunningham making 38 saves for Nipawin.
Nipawin had a 3-1 lead entering the third period of Saturday's game but Barrow scored twice, including the tying goal with 4:53 to play in the third, to send the game to overtime. Felix Allard had the Bruins' other goal. Landon Pappas, Maguire Ratzlaff and Braxton Buckberger scored for Nipawin.
After overtime settled nothing, Ilia Chmelevski scored in the shootout for Estevan.
Hrdlicka started and stopped five of seven shots he faced. Eric Kahl came in and made five saves in his Bruin debut, and then Hrdlicka returned at the start of the second, stopping 22 of 23 shots the rest of the way and stymying three Hawks in the shootout.
Cunningham made 44 saves for Nipawin. He has faced at least 40 shots in all three games against Estevan this season.
Tatarnic said he had a message for the team after the second period.
"I said 'How good is the bus ride going to feel when we win this game in the third period?' I thought we had a ton of chances in the second. We hit posts. We missed empty nets, and our guys kept pressuring and going at them. We did have to kill a lot of penalties."
But he wasn't on the bench for the third goal or for extra time. Tatarnic was assessed a gross misconduct for his response to a hit by a Nipawin player that he thought was "pretty bad" and left a Bruin player in distress. The play continued and Tatarnic said he "threw a marker on the ice" to get the referees' attention.
Tatarnic expects he will be suspended for a few games. The league announced Sunday night that Tatarnic was suspended indefinitely, pending an investigation by the league and Hockey Saskatchewan. On Monday, he was assessed a two-game suspension, meaning he won't be back behind the bench until 2024.
Estevan (12-12-0-2) will close out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule by hosting the Yorkton Terriers on Dec. 13 at 7 p.m., and playing the Notre Dame Hounds on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at Midale's Harry O Memorial Arena.
The club also swung a couple of trades on Sunday prior to the national Junior A trade freeze that now runs until Jan. 1.
They acquired 2004-born forward Cade Kennedy from the Yorkton Terriers for forward Carter Dereniwksy and a player development fee. Dereniwksy is currently playing for the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes.
They also acquired 18-year-old defenceman Jules Delepoulle from the Grand Falls Rapids of the Maritime Hockey League for a player development fee.
