Amerks spoil perfect weekend

By Eric J. Welsh, The Progress

Sep 25

The Bruins were nine minutes away from escaping opening weekend with a perfect 3-0 record — until Adam Hughesman and Joel Broda showe up to crash the party.

Playing their third game in three nights against the Tri-City Americans, the Bruins fell apart late in a 4-3 loss Sunday night at Prospera Centre.

Upbeat coming into the game after posting wins over Kamloops (2-1 Friday) and Portland (2-0 Saturday), the Bruins were a sombre bunch after missing out on a very winnable game.

“It’s really disappointing to me,” said head coach Jim Hiller afterwards, outside the locker room. “What’s really disappointing is they seemed hungrier than us. That doesn’t sit well with me.”

The Bruins led 3-2 heading into the third period on goals by Mark Santorelli, Michael Proudley and Nick Holden.

But the Americans put the petal to the metal in the final frame, buzzing incessantly around Chilliwack netminder Matt Esposito.

Broda made the key play on the tying goal, scored 11:06 into the third. The 17-year-old centre dug the puck out of a scrum along the left-wing boards and slid a crisp pass to Hughesman for a one-timer.

Six minutes later Broda scored the winning goal, pouncing on a loose puck in the Chilliwack goal crease.

“It’s the little things that come back on us,” Santorelli said. “It’s the lack of attention to detail that kills us. We were turning the puck over at our blueline. We didn’t know our assignments on the faceoffs. Little things like that cost us in third period and cost us a good weekend.”

Santorelli got the Bruins off to a good start seven minutes into the game, scoring his first of the season on a power play.

With Tri-City defenceman Mitch McColm serving a two minute kneeing minor, the Bruins threw the puck around on a string with the man advantage.

Playing the point, Holden slid the puck cross-ice to Oscar Moller who sent the puck down low to Santorelli.

The Amerks left the 18-year-old sniper with enough time to read War and Peace, and Santorelli made no mistake, roofing a backhander over Tri-City netminder Chet Pickard.

“The goalie was cheating over towards Colby (Kulhanek), Santorelli said. “And I just put it upstairs. It was a good play by Oscar to get me the puck.”

Tri-City scored two goals in 1:44 early in the second period to stake themselves to a 2-1 lead.

Six-foot-five centre Taylor Procyshen scored the first, bulling to the net on the power play to get his fourth of the young season.

Johnny Lazo followed that with his first of the season, darting out from behind the net to silence the 3,742 fans in attendance.

Needing a spark in the worst way, Chilliwack found one in unheralded forward Michael Proudley.

Working on the penalty kill, the speedster jumped on a turnover by the Tri-City point man and beat Pickard on a breakway.

“The defenceman got the puck and I went out to pressure him,” Proudley explained. “He stumbled a bit, I poked the puck past him and I was off to the races. I’ve been going glove side the last few games and it wasn’t working. This time I decided to shoot blocker side and it worked out good.”

Proudley was the one player Hiller pointed to in a positive light in his post-game comments.

“That was the play of the night for me,” Hiller said. “It’s not just because he scored. It’s because he made such a strong play at the blueline to do it. Michael had a tough season last year, but he looked us in the eye and told us he was going to come back stronger and quicker, and he’s done that. He put in the work this summer and I’m not surprised at how far he’s come.”

Proudley did a lot of penalty killing in midget and junior A hockey. His skill set suggests he should be good at it. He is quick and defensively aware.

He’s feeling a lot better about his place in the Bruins universe now that he’s found a role in the lineup.

“Coming into camp I wasn’t sure where I was going to fit in,” he admitted. “I’ve made an attempt to play hard and keep things simple and the bounces are going my way. I’m feeling more comfortable out there and the pressure’s coming off. But I also know I can’t take a shift or a practice off. I’ve got to battle for my spot every day.”

The Americans out-shot Chilliwack 26-21 on the night and it wasn’t Esposito’s strongest game in net, but he did make two huge saves, robbing Lazo in the first period and stoning Tyler Schmidt on a second-period breakaway.

The Bruins are at home for two more this weekend, hosting the Prince George Cougars Saturday night (7 p.m.) and the Vancouver Giants Sunday (5 p.m.).