Broncos put up good fight against tough opponent
The Swift Current Broncos had a solid weekend, defeating the Regina Pats on Friday and then losing a hard fought battle with one of the Western Hockey League’s top teams at home on Saturday.
Friday, the Broncos vanquished some demons with their first overtime win of the season when they defeated the host Regina Pats 3-2.
Coda Gordon scored his second powerplay goal of the game with 54 seconds remaining in overtime as the Broncos clinched their first win after regulation in five attempts this season.
Graham Black also scored for the Broncos on the powerplay as they finished three-for-six with the man-advantage. Adam Lowry and Reece Scarlett both had a pair of assists in the win.
Chandler Stephenson replied with both goals for the Pats.
Eetu Laurikainen made 20 saves on 23 shots to improve to 4-1-2-1. Matt Hewitt made 27 saves as he dropped to 42-1-0.
Saturday, the Broncos couldn’t find an answer for Ty Rattie as they suffered a 6-3 loss to the talented Portland Winterhawks.
Rattie scored four goals and added an assist as Portland finished their East Division road swing with a 4-1-1-0 record.
Lowry scored twice for the Broncos and Gordon added the other goal as the Broncos suffered only their second regulation loss in the opening 10 games this season.
Landon Bow suffered the loss with 30 saves on 33 shots, while Brendan Burke earned the win with 29 saves.
The Broncos were right with the highly touted Winterhawks most of the way.
“Yeah I thought we play them pretty tough most of the way. It was one of those games where there were a lot of games within a game. We started out good, then they took it to us, then we battled our way back in,” said Broncos Head Coach and General Manager Mark Lamb.
“Our penalty kill let us down and they are highly skilled, they made some good plays. We just didn’t have enough to keep going. We tried switching things around and got the momentum back and then they took it away. That is why they have been in the finals the last two years because they know how to win and they know how to take momentum away from you. They can make a play when things get out of hand and they did it to us three times tonight,” added Lamb.
“We played a hard game for the most part,” added Gordon after his three-point night. “There were a couple collapses that they were able to capitalize. A couple bad calls maybe that they were able to put away that kind of killed us.”
Playing against such a talented team came with a lot of risk said Gordon.
“We just tried to stick to our style. I know that they wouldn’t be as good against an aggressive game, so we just tried to be aggressive. We know that if they get a chance they are probably going to score on it so we tried to limit their chances as best as we could.”
Lamb said it was a good test for his team.
“Yeah they are one of the top teams and they have been in the finals the last two years. They are a measuring stick when you look at all the stars and the high draft picks that they have. It was an exciting game to coach and an exciting game to play. I thought for the most part it was pretty good. By no means did we think we were going to come in here and just kill’em. They have a good hockey team and it was a measuring stick and we know how much work we have to do and how far we have to go to be a team like that.”
Rattie is again among the league scoring leaders after posting 121 points last season.
“Well you sure can’t make mistakes,” said Lamb. “You can see that he doesn’t even need a chance to put it in. He can score from angles, he can score from behind the net, and then he can score with a good shot. You can look at those goals, a couple of them you might say are bad goals, but it is a 60-70 goal guy in the league. He is going to do it for the World Juniors, those guys score goals and they are hard to stop. You just can’t get them the puck because they are going to find a way.”
Lamb said the team played well in Regina to pick up their first win after regulation in five attempts this season.
“I don’t really look at it as a relief at all. I just like the way our team has been competing and staying in games. This was the biggest score this year and I really thought we were in the game. We want to play tighter defensive hockey than we did tonight. Last night that is what we did, we stuck with it and we got the win in overtime.”
10 games into the season the Broncos were tied for the third most points in the Eastern Conference.
“I like the way our team plays,” said Lamb. “I judge it on how we are playing, how are guys are preparing, how into it they are. I am happy with their attitude and where we are at in the standings. I think we can get better in a lot of areas and where we sit in the standings is all right. Still the standings aren’t good enough either, there’s other teams that are going to push. We have played pretty well. We haven’t really went downward and ever since training camp the attitude has been good. I want to stay consistent and I hope our guys can stay consistent and keep playing like this.”
“We have had a good start,” added Gordon. There have been a bunch of games where we have been in it right till the end and then can’t finish it out. So once we learn how to do that and we figure out our winning mentality then I think that we will have a strong season.”
There has been no signs of a sophomore slump for Gordon after bursting into the league with 30 goals last season and being drafted by the Calgary Flames.
“I am just taking it as it is. I am not focusing on it I am just taking it as I was last season. That is the start and then I am just focusing on improving and helping our team win.”
Gordon was tied for 12th in league scoring with 13 points in 10 games coming out of the weekend.
“It has been going pretty good. I have been clicking really well with Lowry I think and we have started to get some more chemistry and finding our linemates to play with. Our powerplay has been strong too so that is where we have really been working off.”
The Broncos also hosted the Everett Silvertips on Wednesday. Check swbooster. for results.
The Broncos will be busy with four games over the next five days beginning with a pair of home games this weekend.
The Broncos will host the Saskatoon Blades on Friday and the Tri-City Americans on Saturday. They will also visit the Prince Albert Raiders on Sunday and host the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday during their busiest stretch early this season.