ESTEVAN - The Estevan Bruins exploded for five goals in a wild second period to defeat the Yorkton Terriers 7-4 on Saturday night in Yorkton.
Yorkton held a 1-0 lead after the first period on a goal by Dustin Renas. But then Ilia Chmelevski scored 74 seconds into the second period to tie the game, and Felix Allard, Chmelevski and Keagon Little tallied less than two minutes apart to put the Bruins up by three. The goals by Allard and Little were on the power play.
Renas notched his second and third of the game in less than two minutes to pull the Terriers to within one, but then Little responded to give the Bruins some breathing room.
Cade Kennedy scored against his former team in the third to add to the Bruins' cushion and Chmelevski notched his third of the game on a power play a few minutes later. Jye Zawatsky's goal for Yorkton rounded out the scoring.
Chmeleveski added two assists to finish with a five-point night.
Jackson Miller stopped 31 shots for the Bruins, while Ethan Farrow (34 saves on 40 shots) and Adam Kelly (seven saves on eight shots) shared goaltending duties for Yorkton.
The night before, Yorkton doubled up Estevan 4-2. Allard scored 68 seconds into the first period to give the Bruins the lead, but 27 seconds later, Aiden Knutson scored for the Terriers.
It remained a 1-1 game until Anthony McIntosh scored for Yorkton, and Brett Butz added to the lead. Zachery Burns' goal on a power play with 39 seconds to play in the frame pulled Estevan to within one.
Renas put the Terriers up by two again with the only goal of the third. It was Renas' first in the SJHL after he spent the season in the Western Hockey League.
Zawatsky, a former member of the Estevan Great North U18 AAA Bears, had three helpers for Yorkton on Friday.
Cam Hrdlicka made 27 saves for the Bruins, while Farrow had 41 saves for the Terriers.
The Bruins' (19-20-1-2) next action will be on Feb. 10 when they will host the Flin Flon Bombers, the top-ranked team in the country. The game will start at 7 p.m.
