For the first time this season the Estevan Bruins were defeated by the Melville Millionaires 5-4 last night at the Credit Union Horizon Centre.
The Mils got off to the fast start with a pair of goals to start the game, first Michael Desjarlais scored to open the scoring, followed by Russell Tradeau in his first game with Melville as the Millionaires.
The Bruins responded on the powerplay late in the first, after a series of chances Cole Olson finally buried home his 6th of the season.
In the second period, Dylan Smith took over as he scored a pair of goals in a 2:49 span to give the Bruins the lead after 40 minutes of play.
The Millionaires would come out firing on all cylinders in the third as Michael Sagen, Lee Christensen and Dustin Eberle all scored for the Mils to give them a 5-3 lead.
The Bruins got a late 5-3 powerplay in the third and Dominic Perrault's point shot got past Alex Wakaluk to cut the lead to 5-4. The Bruins pressed in the end, but couldn't get the game tying goal as Melville won 5-4.
On the injury front, Connor Milligan went down on the first shift with a hit in the corner and didn't return. It looked like a concussion, and it's hard to speculate how long he would be out. Matt Dochylo needed some work to his mouth after taking a hit from Bird in the third.
Dylan Smith had a huge night with a pair of goals and a pair of assists ending off the week with 5 goals and 4 assists as he regains the lead in the SJHL point race. The Smith-Neufeld-Olson is still clicking in November and are showing no signs on the injury front.
With the Bruins going 5 d-man for the majority of the game I thought Dominic Perrault had a big game for the Bruins. It seems like Perrault has taken game to the next level over the past few weeks and becoming the number 1 defenceman that Bruin fans were hoping for.
Steven Glass made 46 saves in the loss after a slow start. He was lights out in the second period, but in the end will have to settle for a loss.
Matt Brykaliuk played defence last night and didn't look out of place in his first game on the blue line. Assistant Coach Cole Zahn said in the pregame Brykaliuk was a defenceman all the way until Midget and it showed out there last night. Eric Baldwin played forward last night but might have to go on the blueline depending on the injury to Milligan.
It's a shame Melville and the Bruins only meet one more time this season, because it really felt like a playoff game out there tonight. You can tell these two teams don't like each other and I have the feeling they will cross paths at some point in the postseason.
Next action for the Bruins is Saturday when they host the La Ronge Ice Wolves at Spectra Place opening faceoff at 7:30.
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