Editor’s note: Quotes from head coach and GM Nick Deschenes added.
For the second time in two weeks, the Grand Forks Border Bruins defeated the Kimberley Dynamiters, this time by a final of 6-4 on the road last Sunday.
Forward Connor Gross, the Border Bruins’ leading scorer, scored a pair of goals while Jackson Purvis, Dakota Kittle, Connor Bowen and Brandon Enns also lit the lamp for the team.
The top line of Jacob Jeske, Gross and Purvis contributed early, with Purvis and Gross scoring the first two goals, but head coach and GM Nick Deschenes said that it was at team effort.
“It doesn’t really matter where the scoring comes from. Everyone’s getting opportunities; it’s more how we play as a team and we really played well as a team, so it was a good game from start to finish,” said Deschenes.
The team saw a some leads evaporate earlier in the season and at the time, Deschenes said the players had to learn to play with a lead, something they seem to be doing over the past few games.
The team had a 4-1 lead entering the third period and while Kimberley mounted a comeback, Grand Forks held steady.
“We’re starting to learn that small plays can make the difference in a hockey game and that’s what hockey is, it’s all small plays over the course of 60 minutes,” Deschenes explained. “If you take care of those small plays and win most of your battles, then at the end of the day, you should be successful. We had a few breakdowns but we didn’t become unraveled, we stuck to the game plan.”
He said the offence coupled by some good goaltending by Robert Dunsmuir, who stopped 31 of 35 shots, led to the big win.
Gross and Purvis were first and third stars respectively in the Stars of the Game selections.
It was a busy week for the Border Bruins, who played four games in five nights last week, all on the road.
On top of the Kimberley game, the team lost 4-1 to the Nelson Leafs on Dec. 5, lost 6-4 in Invermere to the Columbia Valley Rockies on Dec. 7 and lost 5-2 to the Golden Rockets on Dec. 8.
The team has two home games this week, hosting the Rockets at Grand Forks Arena on Friday and the Beaver Valley Nitehawks on Saturday.
The team then heads to Castlegar to play the Rebels on Dec. 18 before breaking for Christmas.
