Skip to content

Terriers take lead in playoffs

Big win comes on home ice
Terriers

Home ice advantage swung to the Yorkton Terriers with a home ice win Tuesday.

With the win the Terriers find themselves up two games to one in their Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League quarter final playoff series with Nipawin.

The Hawks started the scoring Tuesday with the game’s opening goal on Farrell Agencies Arena ice 4:54 into the opening period.

The lead was short-lived as Cody Bruchkowski scored at 6:04 to tie the game.

The 1-1 tie would hold until early in the second period when Jake Tremblay gave the Hawks the lead again 1:08 in.

Mason Mullaney would notch his third of the series at 7:10 to again tie the game.

The deadlocked affair would hold until the third when Bruchkowski would be back for his second of the night with the eventual game-winner 4:29 into the third.

That would be it for scoring and the 960 Terrier faithful went home with their team up in the series.

The Terriers have been getting offence from different sources in the series, something Bruchkowski said the team focuses on, “all 20 guys are buying in” to a system where they don’t care who scores but are confident someone will.

In his own case, Bruchkowski said he is just making an effort to not just score, but contribute on every shift.

“I’m just trying to play a 200-foot game, to play the right way,” he said.

In the case of the two goals Tuesday, Bruchkowski said neither was particularly fancy.

“I was just getting to the net,” he said, adding against Nipawin netminder Declan Hobbs you usually have to get in close and bang.

“He’s a helluva goalie … You’ve got to get to the net and bang away.”

Ryan Ouellette was the winning netminder for the Terriers facing 20-shots, while Declan Hobbs faced 21 according to the SHJL website.

The win was huge, said Terrier head coach Mat Hehr.

“I don’t know if they’ve lost back-to-back games all year,” he said, adding the Terriers got a boost from a home crowd. “It kind of gave the guys more energy.”

Hehr said the key in the series has been the offensive depth of the Terriers. The Hawks may be shutting down the top line, but other players are contributing to get the two wins so far.

Defensively, Ouellette has been sharp too.

“He’s been unbelievable,” said Hehr. “He’s looking like a 20-year old in net.”

The Terrier coach added the defence has been good in from of Ouellette too, but when shots have gotten through their netminder has stood his ground.

Game four in the series goes Wednesday night at the Farrell Agencies Arena, with game five in Nipawin Friday, and game six, if necessary, Sunday.