Terriers Knock Off Bruins Before Christmas Break

Maddux Nollski scored a hat trick, Colby Vranai had three assists on the night, and Kael DePape posted 31 saves, as the Yorkton Terriers downed the Estevan Bruins 5-2 in their final game before the Christmas break. The victory marked the first win by a Viterra Division foe against the Bruins, ending a 13-0 run.

The Terriers opened the scoring just after the midway point of the first period. A shot by Vranai was stopped by Boston Bilous, before Nolan Wutzke took multiple whacks at the rebound, finally steering it past the Estevan keeper. It was Wutzke’s first goal as a Terrier. Yorkton made it 2-0 before the end of the period. A point shot by Tanner Sklaruk was turned aside by Bilous, before Erik Boers slapped home the rebound for his second goal against his former team, and his sixth of the campaign.

The Bruins cut into Yorkton’s lead in the second in a controversial fashion. On the power-play, Dayton Deics held in a puck at the blue-line, before Erik Houk jammed the puck under DePape. After a lengthy discussion, the referees determined the puck was in, despite the goal judge saying otherwise, and it was a 2-1 hockey game. The Terriers quickly replied and only 14 seconds later, Nollski notched his first goal of the night with a snipe over the glove of Bilous.

Yorkton extended their lead in the third period. Nollski broke away on a 2-on-1 with Parker Jasper, feeding Jasper the puck before receiving a return pass and sliding the puck into the cage to make it 4-1. Estevan wouldn’t go away as they converted on a 2-on-1 of their own. Olivier Pouliot found Kade Runke on the backdoor, and while DePape got a piece, he couldn’t prevent the Bruins from making it a 4-2 game. Estevan pressed with the goalie pulled but they couldn’t solve DePape. Nollski capped off the night with an empty-netter to complete his hat-trick goal and tally his 10th goal of the season, thanks to an unselfish play from Vranai.

Yorkton enters the Christmas break with points in four straight games, and they extend their point streak at home to 11 games. It’s a much needed break for the Terriers as they are off until New Year’s Eve when they host the Melville Millionaires.