ESTEVAN - The Eagle Sky Estevan Bruins snapped their seven-game losing skid with a 9-0 rout over the Notre Dame Hounds on Feb. 21, but then dropped a 7-2 decision to the Nipawin Hawks the following night. Both games were played at Affinity Place.
Estevan came out flying against the Hounds, as Steven Steranka and Chase Holt scored in the opening 4:07 of the first period to put the Black and Gold up by two. Hayden Pimm and Ewan Rennie scored in the second for a 4-0 lead, and Steranka added his second of the game with 22 seconds to play in the middle frame.
Estevan piled on the offence in the third. Kanyae Hyang tallied 20 seconds into the frame. Rylan Ringor and Brady Wilson scored less than a minute apart to put Estevan up by eight. And Rorey Elson finished the scoring with two minutes to play.
Steranka assisted on two of the goals to finish with a four-point game.
Beck Boiteau made 19 saves for Estevan to earn not only his first SJHL victory, but his first shutout in the league. He came up with several important saves when the game was still 2-0.
Spencer Borsos (22 saves on 27 shots) and former Estevan U18 AAA Bear Kaden Perron (six saves on 10 shots) shared Notre Dame's goaltending duties.
The Hounds have lost 13 straight. It was one of the final appearances for the junior Hounds in Estevan, as Notre Dame's junior A program is expected to relocate to Warman next season.
The following night, Estevan fell behind 3-0 in the first period against Nipawin and never recovered. Carter Anderson, Mason Karakochuk and Jack Schierau scored for the Hawks in the first. Rennie put the Bruins on the board in the second, and it appeared the Bruins had later pulled to within one, but the tally was disallowed because it was ruled the puck was batted in with a Bruin player's glove.
In the third, Finley Radloff scored twice, while Noah Heinrich and Konnor Watson also scored for Nipawin to help the Hawks pull away. Steranka had the Bruins' lone goal in the frame.
Boiteau stopped 33 shots for Estevan, while Gage Roberts had 32 saves for Nipawin.
Estevan (15-27-5-1) remains 10th in the overall standings with 36 points. The top eight teams in the league make the playoffs; Estevan sits 12 points back of the eighth-place Kindersley Klippers with eight games remaining.
The Bruins will visit Notre Dame on Feb. 28 and the Battlefords North Stars on March 1 and 2.
