When the La Ronge Ice Wolves took a 4-0 lead early in the third period tonight, just about everyone figured the game was over. Kudos to the Bruins for scoring a couple and dominating a good stretch of the third period, but in the end their efforts fell short in a 4-2 final.
This was an inconsistent game from the Bruins. There were times when they buzzed around the Wolves' net and couldn't finish, and there were other times when the Wolves were clearly the better team. About half a dozen guys were really impressive, and some others didn't bring anywhere close to their A game.
La Ronge had all kinds of chances in the first period, but they were stonewalled by Derek Tendler and the teams went to their rooms scoreless. But the tide would turn for the Wolves in the second.
Less than two minutes in, on a power play, Marc-Andre Carre took a pass in the slot and buried it blocker side to break the ice.
Speaking of Carre, I forgot how much fun he is to watch. He was dominant in every aspect of the game. Along with his goal and assist (and another 1-on-2 rush where he fooled everyone and rang a shot off the post), he dished out a few big hits and he was excellent defensively. You could tell he's spent some time in the pros. Carre adds an entire other dimension to that team.
Just before the three-minute mark, Tendler got caught going the wrong way but still managed to lunge back and rob Brett McNevin with the paddle. Then Smerek took the rebound and scored on a wraparound.
With 8:20 left in the period, there was a delay of about 20 minutes due to an ice issue around the Wolves' net. It took a while to find a CO2 extinguisher to fix the problem. The delay was so long that both teams took a quick warmup when the ice was ready to go.
Not long after the game resumed, a Dom Perrault point shot was tipped by Calder Neufeld past Alex Rajotte but was called back on a high stick.
Shortly after that, the Bruins got a bad break when Skyler Hladun's shot (which was going wide) hit Ben Johnstone in the midsection and ricocheted back toward Tendler. He made the reflex save but the rebound was right there for Nathan Boyer to put in.
It was a tough momentum swing, going from 2-1 to 3-0, not to mention Johnstone, who was one of the best Bruin forwards all night. He threw some big hits.
I really wasn't impressed by the Bruins' play late in the second and early in the third, and less than a minute after they frittered away a power play, Zac Ashdown cleaned up a rebound off a Carre shot to make it 4-0.
The Bruins' comeback began at 7:38 on a fluke goal when Rajotte swatted at a puck in mid-air and accidentally knocked it into his net. Neufeld got credit for the power play goal. It came at a good time for the Bruins after the first 1:30 of that man advantage had been absolutely terrible.
Ryan Ostertag made it 4-2 less than two minutes later on one of the nicest goals you'll see all year. He flew down the left side, on his off wing, and unleashed a ridiculously quick shot that found a tiny hole in the top right corner, pretty much the only space Rajotte left open.
The Bruins pressed for the rest of the period but couldn't beat Rajotte again.
Both goalies were outstanding tonight. The next player who stood out for the Bruins was Tyler Kauk. With Yano and Milligan out of the lineup, he was relied upon even more than usual - I'd wager he was close to 30 minutes - and carried himself like a vet. He also showed a little extra confidence with the puck, carrying it deep a couple of times when it seemed no one else could break across the line.
Ostertag had several good chances and really used his speed to generate odd-man breaks. There's no telling what kind of numbers he could put up if he looked like that every night.
With Jelinski and Dochylo out of the lineup, the checking unit was comprised of Reich, Whitehill and Baldwin and I felt they did a good job of grinding it out against the Carre line. Reich was especially solid and played with a lot of fire.
Meanwhile, the Neufeld-Olson-Smith line created some chances but also failed to finish and were guilty of dragging their feet far too often. That has to change.
Yorkton Harvest defenceman Blake McMillen was AP'd for the game and, although there were a couple of mistakes, he didn't hurt the Bruins, which is about all you can ask for in that situation. He played mostly with Perrault.
Post-game reaction:
Ryan Ostertag Nov. 12 by lewis94
Keith Cassidy Nov. 12 by lewis94
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