ESTEVAN - The Estevan Bruins opened the 2021-22 season with a 2-1 victory over the Yorkton Terriers Friday night at Affinity Place.
Antoine St. Onge opened the scoring for Estevan eight minutes into the first period. From there, the Bruins had plenty of opportunities to score in the rest of the period, but couldn’t double the advantage.
Estevan then continued their dominance in the second period, outshooting Yorkton 18-6, but the score remained 1-0 after 40 minutes.
Early in the third period, Caelan Fitzpatrick redirected Nolan Jones’ point shot on a power play to give the Bruins the 2-0 advantage, and it remained a two-goal lead until four minutes remained in the third, when Yorkton’s Karsten Kruska finished off a scoring opportunity generated by a great rush by linemate Carson Henry.
Yorkton had several chances to tie the game, but were turned away by Bruin goaltender Boston Bilous, who finished with 25 saves on the night.
Jacob Herman stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced for Yorkton.
It was the first time since March 2020 that the Bruins played a regular season or playoff game without restrictions for capacity. The announced crowd Friday night was 842, although the league’s website says 1,068 spectators.
Estevan is slated to host the 2021-22 Centennial Cup national junior A hockey championship next May.
The two teams will meet again Saturday night in Yorkton for the Terriers home opener. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
