It was a weekend of mixed results for the Grand Forks Border Bruins, who began a marathon six games in nine days on Friday at the Jack Goddard Memorial Arena.
Nov. 1 - Grand Forks Border Bruins 2, Chase Heat 6
Friday marked the first time in nearly five years that Chase Heat hockey players skated on Grand Forks ice, having last appeared and won at the Jack by an 11-1 margin on Dec. 20, 2014.
The Heat knocked the Border Bruins off balance again in this year’s tie, when they went up by two goals less than two minutes into the game. Another Heat goal with just over a minute left in the first sent the Border Bruins back to their dressing room with issues to fix.
A rally through the second and third wasn’t enough though, despite volleying a barrage of 44 shots on the Heat’s net.
Nov. 2 - Grand Forks Border Bruins 2, Kimberley Dynamiters 1
Coming off a tiring loss, the Border Bruins battened down the hatches to avoid getting blown out by the league-leading Kimberley Dynamiters on Saturday.
A star performance from captain Liam Stalwick, who notched both goals for the Border Bruins, coupled with a lights-out night from starting goalie Shane Zilka (who stopped 37 of 38 shots), led to a big upset for the Dynamiters – the East Kootenay team’s second regulation loss of the season.
Nov. 3 - Grand Forks Border Bruins 3, Kamloops Storm 4
Despite outshooting their opponents by a margin of nearly two to one, the Border Bruins suffered their second loss of the weekend on Sunday in their matinée game against the Kamloops Storm in Grand Forks.
Another rough start to the game saw the home team fall 4-0 down to the visitors around the halfway mark of the game. From there, a power play goal from Josh Garlough-Bell with just over five minutes left in the second helped the Bruins claw back some momentum.
Whatever was said in the dressing room after 40 minutes worked, as the Border Bruins came out flying – launching 14 pucks on net during the final period, compared to the Storm’s three.
Matthieu Guimond and Garlough-Bell brought the Border Bruins within one goal of Kamloops with three and a half minutes to play, but Kamloops goaltender Jakob Drapeau stood strong to eke out the win.
The Border Bruins play away to Nelson on Tuesday, Nov. 4, before returning home to face off against the 100 Mile House Wranglers on Friday at 7 p.m.