Weyburn 5-Estevan 1: January 2
Weyburn took an early lead January 2 at the 17:57 mark of the first period and never relinquished the lead to their arch nemesis from Estevan.
Shawn Cowie, along with brother Rodney, and Drew George made it a 1-0 contest until the third period when over 118 minutes of Bruin's penalties caused them to fold in front of their own fans.
It wouldn't be until the 1:38 mark of the third period when Weyburn's Bruce Keegan added to their slim lead. Keegan along with Scott Kirkham and George made it 2-0 in the early part of the final period.
TJ Wees on a power play made it 3-0 at the 5:23 minute mark with help from George and Brock Appleyard.
Estevan's Ryan Ostertag would burst Wings' netminder Mitch Kilgore's shutout hopes at the 10:05 mark of the third period making it a 3-1 contest.
With Weyburn in the penalty box it appeared that the game could swing in the wrong direction for the Wings like the previous game in Weyburn. The Cowie brothers took the puck and Weyburn's concerns away by going end to end scoring a short-handed goal and increasing their lead to 4-1 to this point.
Weyburn seemed to get a new sense of confidence with that goal and they turned away every other Bruin rush down the ice. With less than 30 seconds left on the scoreboard all hell broke loose after Weyburn's Tanner McCall increased the Wings' lead to 5-1.
Estevan's netminder felt the urge to jump into the fray causing a raucous on the ice, which ended up costing the Bruins dearly.
Kilgore faced 42 Bruin shots while Estevan's netminder Joel Danyluk faced 26 on the evening.
The Wings will now enjoy a well-deserved four day rest, but will face a grueling home game schedule where Melfort comes to town Friday January 7th, LaRonge Saturday January 8th, Notre Dame Tuesday January 11th and Nipawin Friday January 14th before striking out on a five game road trip. Also the makeup date for the Melville at Weyburn game which was postponed in November will be Wednesday, January 26th at 7:30 p.m.
Estevan 6-Weyburn 2: January 1
The Estevan Bruins traveled Hwy. # 39 on New Year's Day to try and regain some pride after Weyburn waltzed into their barn and soundly defeated the hometown team by a score of 7-3 the night before.
The Wings started out of the gate a bit slow and chasing the Bruins who were fortunate to get on the scoreboard first with a goal by Dylan Smith at the 5:16 mark of the opening period.
Weyburn would claw its way back to even when Coltyn Sanderson scored making it a one-all game at the 11:31 mark of the first period. Both teams would trade goals back and forth but it would remain a draw going into the second period.
The Bruins would gain the advantage again at the 8:44 mark of the second period when Ben Findlay would get rewarded with a goal for his hard work deep in the Wings' territory.
Weyburn's second power play goal would come at the 11:48 mark when Keegan Bruce along with Scott Kirkham and TJ Wees would knot the game at 2-2.
Wings' netminder Riley Hengen would stand tall between the pipes during the first two periods of the game as time after time he would turn away the Estevan Bruins advances.
The third period ended up to be a bit of a shocker for the Wings and the hometown crowd as the Bruins came to life and scored four unanswered goals.
Bruins' Ben Findlay, Ryan Anderson. Tyler Spencer (PP) and Mark Cross (PP) all scored in the third period to make the 6-2 score a bitter pill to swallow for the Wing's coach Dwight McMillan.
Weyburn 7-Estevan 3: December 31
While 2010 finished like a lion for the Weyburn Red Wings, the Estevan Bruins weren't happy with the 7-3 shellacking that their neighbours to the west handed them in front of their own fans December 31 in Estevan.
While it was the Bruins who finally got on the scoreboard first in the second period with a Dylan Smith goal at the 1:04 minute mark, it wasn't any reason to shoot off any fireworks yet, at least for the Bruins.
Weyburn's Brock Appleyard scored his first of three goals on the evening at the 11:36 mark of the second period with help from the Cowie brothers, Rodney and Shawn. The same line-up then added another at the 18:19 mark to gain the lead on their guests in Estevan. Coltyn Sanderson would increase the Wing's lead to 3-1 when he took a pass from Keegan Bruce to extend their lead going into the third period.
Bruce would open the scoring for Weyburn at the 2:34 mark with assists being awarded to Ryan Whitell and Sanderson to make it a 4-1 contest to this point. With the Wings down a skater due to a misunderstanding with an official regarding a hooking infraction, Weyburn's Jesse Ross ignited the Wing's bench with a short-handed goal. This short-handed goal propelled the Wings into a comfortable 5-1 lead. Drew George was credited with an assist for his part in their short-handed scoring drive.
Rodney Cowie would drive another stake into the chest of the Bruins at the 7:38 mark of the final period with help from Appleyard and brother Shawn. The count was now 6-1 for the visiting Wings but credit must be given to the Estevan squad for not giving up as Cole Olson came back at the 8:32 mark with their second goal of the night. Estevan's third and final goal came from the stick of Cole Gibson at the 10:57 mark, which gave the hometown crowd a glimmer of hope.
That only lasted until Weyburn went on the hunt on a power play at the 19:33 mark, which saw Appleyard completing his hat-trick on the evening. Shawn Cowie and Whitell were awarded assists on the Wings' seventh and final goal of the evening in front of 750 fans in attendance.
Weyburn's netminder Mitch Kilgore faced 25 shots on the evening while Estevan netminders Shea Cooper faced 22 and Joel Danyluk faced a total of 10 shots after replacing Cooper at the 5:51 mark of the third period.
This was a quiet game as far as penalty minutes between these two usually physical teams. Weyburn had 10 minutes in minor penalties while the Bruins garnered 14 minutes in minor penalties.
