Broncos fall to past playoff foes
The Swift Current Broncos met two of their four opponents from the 2018 Western Hockey League playoffs but lost both contests over the weekend.
Saturday, the Broncos lost the special teams battle in a 4-1 loss to the Everett Silvertips in a rematch of last year’s WHL Championship series.
The Silvertips scored once on the power play and twice while shorthanded to hand the Broncos their sixth consecutive loss.
The Silvertips opened the scoring 2:15 into the game when Connor Dewar scored while shorthanded. The Broncos tied the game at the 11:43 mark of the period when Tanner Nagel knocked home a rebound for his third goal of the season.
Gianni Fairbrother gave the Silvertips a second lead with another shorthanded goal with 3:06 left in the middle stanza.
The Silvertips ensured the victory with a power play goal from Dewar early in the third period and an empty net goal from Riley Sutter.
Isaac Poulter took the loss with 37 saves on 40 shots to fall to 0–4-0-0. Dustin Wolfe improved to 10-5-0-0 with 22 saves.
Everett finished 4-2 on their East Division road trip to improve to 10-5-0-0 overall.
Sunday, the Broncos were the victims of a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the host Regina Pats. Joona Kiviniemi scored the lone goal in the second period to cut the deficit to 4-1. Joel Hofer took the loss with 33 saves on 40 shots.
Austin Pratt and Sergei Alkhimov led the Pats with two goals each. Nick Henry, Scott Mahovlich, and Riley Crane also scored. Max Paddock earned the win with 21 saves.
The Broncos have a pair of home games this weekend. They will host the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday and the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday.
The Broncos will wear their special ‘Bronco Strong’ jerseys on Friday to recognize their shared history with the Humboldt Broncos. The jerseys will be auctioned off with proceeds going towards STARS Air Ambulance.