Broncos eliminated in game seven by Pats
An impressive playoff run came to an end Monday in Regina when the Swift Current Broncos lost 5-1 to the Regina Pats in game seven of the Eastern Conference semi-final series.
After jumping out to a 3-1 series lead the Broncos lost their third straight game and simply seemed to run out of gas in game seven. In the series deciding game the Broncos spent vast amounts of time in the defensive zone while being outshot 43-24 by the Western Hockey League regular season champion Pats, who were playing their first home game seven in over 45 years.
The Pats took control of the game early, firing the first eight shots on net with goals off the sticks of Sam Steel and Filip Ahl. Steel found himself all alone to knock home an inviting rebound only 2:19 into regulation and Ahl took advantage of a collision between two Bronco defensemen for a breakaway goal 2:38 later.
The Broncos regrouped after a timeout and spent six minutes on the power play before end of the period. They generated plenty of scoring chances but Tyler Brown was equal to every opportunity with 10 saves in the period to keep the 2-0 lead intact through the opening stanza.
“We certainly didn’t get out to the start that we wanted to,” said head coach Manny Viveiros. “Obviously they got up and they got the momentum going. I thought if we would have capitalized maybe on a couple of power plays in the first period we could have changed things, but then we made a couple of mistakes in the second period. We simply just didn’t have it tonight for whatever reason. We just didn’t have the game that we normally had throughout this whole series. Against a team like that, that’s going like that, you have to be at your best. If you are not at your best you are not going to win and that was very obvious here tonight.”
“Yeah it was not the start we wanted obviously. Power plays, not scoring on them and they have a good PK over there. I think we have a good power play as well and we have a great group over here. A couple bounces that didn’t really go our way… At the end of the day it’s about execution and we didn’t have that tonight,” added an emotional Ryley Lindgren after his final WHL game.
“Credit to them, they came out crashing and banging and got the first bounce of the game and the rest is history. For us it was obviously some positives, I thought we did some good things. Our power play generated some good looks, but ultimately we came up short,” explained goaltender Jordan Papirny.
Steel added his second goal of the night midway through the second period when a puck fell to him in the crease and he shovelled it home. Austin Wagner made it 4-0 when he tipped home his sixth goal of the series and ninth of the postseason with 4:24 remaining in the second period.
The Broncos had responded to adversity throughout the playoffs, especially against the Pats, who scored first in six of the seven games.
“I think the momentum was just going and we just couldn’t get out of it. We’ve dug ourselves out of holes throughout these playoffs, but today we just couldn’t do it. Maybe a lucky bounce here, or a goal, like I said we had a couple good chances in the first period. Brown I thought was outstanding tonight for Regina, made some great saves. We needed something to get us going momentum-wise when they scored the third goal and the fourth it seemed like we were skating in sand the whole time and couldn’t get ourselves going. Credit to Regina, they are a good hockey team, an absolute great hockey team, great organization. There is a reason they were ranked the number one team in the country,” said Viveiros.
The Broncos finally scored on the power play with the goaltender pulled in favour of the extra attacker when Conner Chaulk deflected home his second of the post-season with 5:27 left on the clock. The comeback bid was short-lived when Wagner scored into an empty net 1:03 later to close the scoring with his seventh goal of the series.
Papirny took the loss with 38 saves on 42 shots to finish 7–7-0 in the post-season. Brown had a relatively quiet night but made the saves he needed to, 23 in total, to improve to 8-0-3 in the playoffs.
“We didn’t get that momentum changing goal, so to speak, or something to get us going again. Regina just didn’t let their foot off the gas. Every time we tried to get going they kept coming at us because they are that good,” said Viveiros.
Papirny was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings at the trade deadline and the overage goaltender was a huge piece of the Broncos playoff run.
“It is obviously a little sour, obviously with the way the game and the series went with having a 3-1 lead,” he said after his final WHL game. “I think we are proud of ourselves. I think me, Lindy [Ryley Lindgren], and Grahamer [Ryan Graham] should be just proud of our careers in general. Hats off to those two, they had exceptional Western League careers. We had an awesome team this year, so credit to everyone.”
“I mean it is pretty emotional obviously,” said Lindgren after the game seven loss. “It is not the way we wanted to go out, but I mean we are definitely really proud of the group we have in there, the character we showed. We didn’t come as hard as we wanted tonight and they ended up being the better team. Kudos to them and good luck to them in the rest of the playoffs.”
The Broncos vastly exceeded most expectations with a 3923-4-0 record during Viveiros’ first season in Swift Current, before upsetting the Moose Jaw Warriors in seven games and pushing the top-ranked Pats to the brink of elimination.
“Nothing but pride for our kids. Our kids battled all season long and they bought in to what we wanted to do from the beginning of the year. They can hold their heads up high for sure,” said Viveiros.
Both teams battled injuries in the series, but the loss of centre Lane Pederson in game five proved to be a difficult obstacle for the Broncos to overcome.
“We are proud of those kids. We are very, very proud of those kids. No one really gave them an opportunity to be in this position. I think we scared Regina for a little bit also too. We are not as deep as them and we lost a couple key players on our hockey team. There’s no question about it, that certainly made a difference. Again hats off to Regina. Even with a full line-up it still would have been tough beating them,” said Viveros.