The Humboldt Broncos three-game point streak was snapped on Wednesday night thanks to a 5-3 loss against the Estevan Bruins.
It was a tough start for the Broncos that left them trailing 3-0 after the first 20 minutes. Estevan capitalized on a delay game penalty from Humboldt’s Karson Kerbes after he shot the puck into the stands within his own zone. Hayden Pimm scored on the extra-man advantage to give the Bruins the early lead.
Less than a minute after the Broncos successfully killed their second penalty of the game, Estevan extended their lead to 2-0 thanks to Kent Moors.
Penalty troubles continued to plague Humboldt after they took their third consecutive infraction of the game and Luke Hogan scored for the Bruins on the power play.
For a moment, the Broncos thought they had scored to cut their deficit, but the goal was immediately waived off due to a hand pass.
Humboldt scored the lone goal in the second period with ex-Bruin, Gabriel Filion banging home a loose rebound, his third of the season, leaving the Broncos down by two heading into the third period.
Marik Mamic provided Humboldt with some hope, with a power play goal, trimming the deficit down to one goal.
Estevan regained a two-goal edge with Carter Onrait scoring another power play.
Jacob Strizzi extended his goal-streak to four games, that gave the Broncos one last chance with 1:37 remaining.
But any hopes of a Broncos comeback were dashed when Moors scored an empty netter, making the final 5-3.
In the end, the power plays were a telling stat in the game with Estevan 3/7 and Humboldt was 1/5.
Broncos Ty Matonovich made 27 saves in the loss while the Bruins Kyle Kelsey made 47 saves to give Estevan a victory in his season debut.
Following the game, Humboldt’s Assistant Coach Carter Hansen said special teams played a key role in deciding Wednesday night’s game.
“We took way too many penalties in the first period, and you have to give their special teams credit, they had three power play goals tonight and obviously our P.K. just wasn’t where it needed to be to help us out tonight.”
Hansen felt the Broncos did rebound as the game went on, but in the end it wasn’t enough.
“I think about halfway through the second period and especially in the third period we got back to our game. We were just hitting, we’re making simple plays, we’re not forcing too much stuff.”
He added consistency was addressed by the coaching staff.
“It’s good for us to play that way, but we need to do it for 60 minutes and that was kind of our message after the game, we need to play how we did for the last half of the game for 60 minutes.”
The Broncos are off on Thursday before they return to action on Friday when they begin a home and home set with the Battlefords Northstars. The two teams will meet in Battlefords before returning to Humboldt on Saturday.