YORKTON, SK – The Yorkton Terriers overcame an early two-goal deficit and erupted for three unanswered goals in the third period to skate away with a 6-3 victory over the Estevan Bruins on Thursday night at the Soak Zone Arena.
Six goals, including a pair from Aidan Vallance, helped the Dogs extend their winning streak to three games for the first time this season.
The Terriers found themselves chasing the game early in the opening period, as the visiting Bruins struck twice on their first four shots against Callum Creig.
Caleb Potter opened the scoring on the power play, snapping his first goal of the season low glove side past Creig to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
Just over two minutes later, Estevan doubled its advantage following a Terriers turnover in the neutral zone. Steven Steranka finished off a three-way passing play with Drew Beasley and Gunner Moore to make it 2-0.
However, the Terriers had an answer.
Aidan Vallance got Yorkton on the board, collecting the puck off the end wall before tucking it past Bruins netminder Dylan Adams for his fourth goal of the season.
The Dogs weren’t done there, drawing even thanks to a slick deflection from Jake Briltz, who redirected a Tyson Medernach point shot past Adams for his fifth of the campaign.
Yorkton carried the momentum through the remainder of the opening frame, outshooting Estevan 15-8.
In the middle frame, the Terriers grabbed their first lead of the evening thanks to a terrific individual effort from Austin Horbachewsky. The West Kelowna product created an opportunity before finding a streaking Samuel Biakabutuka, who tapped home his first goal as a Terrier to give Yorkton a 3-2 advantage.
The lead, however, was short-lived.
Just 1:01 later, the Bruins capitalized on another power-play opportunity as Gunner Moore sniped his sixth goal of the season high glove side past Creig, evening the score at 3-3.
Despite surrendering the equalizer, the Terriers continued to generate chances, outshooting the Bruins for the second straight period and holding a commanding 31-17 advantage through 40 minutes of play.
The two teams headed into the final frame deadlocked at three.
In the third period, the deadlock remained intact until the midway point of the frame, when Drew Heil broke through with his third goal of the season. The Terriers defenceman continued his hot streak, finding the back of the net for the third consecutive game to give Yorkton a 4-3 lead.
The Dogs weren’t finished there.
Yorkton put the game out of reach with a pair of goals just 10 seconds apart, as Vallance buried his second of the night before DJ Brass followed suit, quickly turning a one-goal advantage into a commanding 6-3 lead.
The Terriers poured on the pressure in the final frame, peppering Adams with 26 shots. The Bruins netminder was busy all evening, finishing with 51 saves as Yorkton held a 57-17 advantage on the shot clock.
With the victory, the Terriers extended their winning streak to three games and will now hit the road for five consecutive contests, with stops in Melfort, North Battleford, Flin Flon and La Ronge.
