Reaching 50
The Swift Current Broncos picked up two wins over the weekend as they gathered momentum heading into the Western Hockey League playoffs. A pair of close wins over the Saskatoon Blades left the Broncos with seven wins in their past eight games heading into the final week of the regular season.
“I think a big thing is we are getting contributions from everybody on our hockey team. Guys are stepping up and playing good minutes for us. We are playing much better defensively. Mistakes are still being made, but mistakes aren’t always costing us goals, so that part was very positive,” said Head Coach Manny Viveiros following Saturday’s home win.
The Broncos had lost four of five games before turning things around with 5-4 overtime win over the Regina Pats on Feb. 26.
“I think it was just trying to stay positive,” said veteran forward Tyler Steenbergen of the turnaround. “When we are getting down in games we’re not letting ourselves get too worried about, we are trying to stay positive and that’s helping out a lot. We did go through a rough stretch but we battled through that and if that comes in the playoffs we know we will be able to battle back.”
The Broncos finished with three wins in four games last week, beginning with a road win Tuesday when the Broncos scored three goals in the third period to defeat the host Prince Albert Raiders 4-2 for their fifth straight win.
Playing their third road game in four days, the Broncos got goals from Lane Pederson, Kaden Elder, Steenbergen, and Ryley Lindgren. Parker Kelly scored both goals for the Raiders.
Steenbergen notched his
47th goal of the season with 58 seconds remaining in regulation to put the Broncos ahead 3-2 before Lindgren scored into an empty net.
Jordan Papirny got the win with 33 saves on 35 shots. Ian Scott took the loss with 30 saves on 33 shots.
Wednesday, Riley Krane’s first career WHL goal stood up as the game winner as the Regina Pats skated to a 4-2 win over the host Broncos.
Continued on page 24