It was the Mark Rumsey show in Yorkton, as the Estevan forward put up a four point night in a 4-3 victory over the Terriers. Maddux Nollski and Clay Sleeva scored their first career SJHL goals, but it wasn’t enough for the Terriers during their home opener.
Yorkton would get the icebreaker in the first period. Tyson Janzen released a wrist shot from the blue line into a crowd, and Nollski redirected the puck past a screened Boston Bilous. The goal would stand as the lone marker in the first, in what was a tight checking period.
The Bruins would respond in the second. Only 11 seconds in, Estevan pulled apart Yorkton’s defense and Griffin Asham-Moroz would go one-on-one with Jacob Herman beating the Yorkton tender on the blocker side. The Bruins would then go on to get their first lead of the game after an intended pass went off the skate of Brandon Ambrozik and trickle past a surprised Herman. For Asham-Moroz and Ambrozik, the goals would mark their first tallies of the season.
Early in the third, the Bruins would extend their lead, as Rumsey connected on an odd man rush for a shorthanded marker, just 55 seconds into the period. Oliver Pouliot would draw the assist. However, only 30 seconds later, Sleeva would attempt a centering pass that hit a defender’s skate and slip past Bilous to make it a 3-2 game. Rumsey would strike for the second time in the period on the power-play to restore a two goal lead for the Bruins, receiving a pass from Mikol Sartor and burying it past Herman. Yorkton didn’t go away as Karsten Kruska tipped home a Janzen wrist shot, for his second goal of the season, to make it 4-3 with about four minutes left in the third. The Terriers would press for an equalizer, even while on a 6-on-3 man advantage, but the Bruins managed to hang on for the 4-3 victory.
Herman stopped 12 shots on 16 attempts in the loss, while Bilous made 23 saves on 26 shots in the victory.
Yorkton’s homestand continues on Tuesday night when they welcome the Melfort Mustangs to the Westland Insurance Arena. The game will be broadcast on the online stream on GX 94’s website or the GX 94 app. The pre-game show starts at 7:20pm with the play-by-play getting underway at 7:30pm.
