The Estevan Bruins surrendered four goals in the final 12 minutes of the third period and lost 5-3 to the Battlefords North Stars on January 29.

Estevan had a 3-1 lead entering the third period, and the Bruins appeared poised to extend their season-high winning streak to four games. But four Battlefords goals squashed those hopes.

Tyler Poskus and Derek Whitehill scored in the first period to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. Poskus' goal was his first in the SJHL.

The two teams traded goals in the second period. Smith scored for the Bruins on a goal that was set up by an end-to-end rush by Poskus.

"I thought that in the first two periods, we excelled," said Bruins head coach/GM Keith Cassidy. "We did the things that we talked about. We did the things that we wanted to do. Our biggest problem isn't our skill or strength, or anything like that, it's our maturity as a team to be able to stay focused on the task at hand for 60 minutes.

"That's a tough skill. That's something that guys work on for their entire career to be able to do. Guys in there got a reminder of that today."

Battlefords pulled within a goal with 12 minutes remaining in the third, tied the game with 10 minutes to play, took the lead with six minutes remaining and added the insurance marker with two minutes left.

"The moment you relax against a good hockey club, you're done," Cassidy said adamantly. "That's something that with a young hockey club, I figured we had learned that pretty much from the start of the year. But this was a definite reminder of the fact that when it comes to losing focus, you can't do that in Junior A hockey."

Prior to the Battlefords' four-goal outburst, the Bruins had allowed just six goals in their previous 14 periods.

Two nights earlier, the Bruins defeated the Nipawin Hawks 3-2 in overtime. Smith scored the game winner early in the extra frame. Neufeld had the other two goals, including the tally with 90 seconds left in the third period that sent the game into overtime.

Tyler Ross was in goal for both games. He stopped 24 shots against the Battlefords and 22 against Nipawin.

The Bruins are now in the midst of their final northern road trip of the season. They visited the Kindersley Klippers on February 2. (Results were not available at press time). Then they visit the Battlefords North Stars on February 3 and Kindersley again on February 4.

Estevan will host Yorkton on February 8. Game time is at 7:30 p.m.