The Yorkton Terriers continue to scuffle in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action, losing two on the weekend, and being only 3-7 over their last 10 games.
At the same time Estevan has been on a 9-1 run through their last 10, to pull into a six point lead in the SJHL Viterra Division. The first place Bruins have 57 points, with the Terriers sitting with 51. Melville sits third with 37-points, with Weyburn in the basement with 35.
Friday the Terriers were in the Battlefords to take on the North Stars.
The teams traded goals in the first player; Quintin Loon-Stewardson started the scoring for the home team on the powerplay at 2:09.
Chantz Petruic and Cody Bruchkowski responded for the Terriers giving them a 2-1 lead.
Twenty-seconds after the Terriers go-ahead goal, Elijah Loon-Stewardson tied the game 2-2, a score which held into the second frame.
A powerplay goal by Macgregor Sinclair and an even strength effort by Braydon Buziak made in a 4-2 lead for the Stars.
A late goal by Colby Brandt cut in the lead for the Terriers, making it a 4-3 contest headed to the third period.
Seth Summers scored 15-seconds into the final frame, with a second goal by Elijah Loon-Stewardson extended the home side’s lead to 6-3 by the 5:42 mark.
A second goal by Petruic, this with the man-advantage at 18:35 made it 6-4, but the Terriers got no closer as Sinclair added his second of the game, this one into an empty net to round out a 7-4 win for the Stars.
Andrew Henderson was in goal for Yorkton facing 32-shots in the loss, while Chad Duran earned the victory facing 27-shots.
Coming off the loss to the Stars, the Terriers headed to Kindersley Saturday to take on the Klippers.
The first period would be a scoreless affair, but it took only 2:12 into the second for Devon Cyr to give the home team a lead.
Caden Benson would add the next two for the Klippers, the second on the powerplay to make it a 3-0 lead.
Aiden Bulych would finally put the Terriers on the board at 16:42.
The 3-1 lead would last into the third period where it would go 19:22 before a goal, a powerplay effort from Noah Bankowski to salt away a 4-1 home ice win for the Klippers.
Ryan Ouellette took the loss in the Yorkton net facing 34-shots, while Justen Close had the win for Kindersley facing 35.
Terrier head coach Mat Hehr said he was not dissatisfied in spite of the loss.
“I am at the fact we didn’t get any points out of it ... but I thought we carried ourselves very well on the weekend,” he said.
Hehr said it came down to a key goal here and there for the opposition, and against good teams that is usually the case,
“We unfortunately found that out the hard way,” he said.
Still over the last three games, Hehr said he has seen positive effort from the Terriers.
“I’ve really liked the way we’ve played,” he said, adding in a seven-game playoff he feels their play would win out.
Last Tuesday
It was an old fashioned shoot-out at the Farrell Agencies Arena last Tuesday as the two top teams in the Viterra Division squared off.
The Terriers fired first with Chantz Petruic scoring 1:43 into the game.
The Estevan Bruins did not take long to respond, TJ Irey knotting things 1-1 at 4:08.
A powerplay effort from Turner Ripplinger and an even strength goal by Devan Harrison would give the Bruins a 3-1 lead, before Colby Brandt added a second Terrier goal in the first.
The teams would seesaw through the second, Petruic again starting scoring in the period for Yorkton to tie the game 3-3.
It would be only 2:13 after the tying goal that Bryce Platt scored to give Estevan another lead.
Cody Bruchkowski tied the game with a powerplay marker.
But the Bruins would nudge ahead when Tyson Manz scored a short-handed effort with only five-ticks left in the second period to lead the game 5-4 through 40-minutes.
Yorkton tied the game again in the third 5:05 into the action as Mason Mullaney found the twine.
Only 1:02 later Brandt recorded the eventual game-winner with his second of the night, to complete a 6-5 Terrier win.
Kadin Kilpatrick took the loss in the Estevan nets facing 31-shots.
Ryan Ouellette recorded the win for the Terriers facing 38.
Up next
The Terriers are scheduled to be in Melville Friday, Feb. 15, then host the Millionaires at the Farrell Agencies Arena, Saturday.
