Rough trip for Broncos through U.S. Division

Team returns for first home game in two weeks on Saturday, facing the Oil Kings

The Swift Current Broncos’ journey through the Western Hockey League’s U.S. Division did not go as planned with four straight losses to open the five-game trip.

On Wednesday, the Broncos stumbled in the starting game of their U.S. Division road trip with a 51 loss to the Spokane Chiefs. Tanner LeSann scored the only goal, his third of the season, in the second period to cut the deficit to 3-1. Eetu Laurikainen suffered the loss with 28 saves on 33 shots. Mike Aviani and Mitch Holmberg led the Chiefs with two power play goals and two assists each. Dominic Zwerger also scored for the Chiefs in the win. Eric Williams picked up the win with 26 saves.

On Friday, the Broncos dropped to 0-2 on their trip with a 5-4 loss to the Portland Winterhawks.

Connor Sanvido, LeSann, Graham Black, and Coda Gordon all scored for the Broncos in the loss.

Nicolas Petan, Alex Schoenborn, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Brendan Leipsic, and Dominic Turgeon scored for the Winterhawks in front of 8,122 fans at the Moda Center.

Laurikainen made 43 saves on 48 shots in the loss for Swift Current. Brendan Burke picked up the win with 35 saves,

Saturday, the U.S. Division remained an unsolved mystery for the Broncos as they lost 6-3 to the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Broncos held a 1-0 lead after one period on a Colby Cave goal but then allowed four straight goals to trail 4-1.

The Broncos added goals from Julius Honka and Gordon before Seattle closed the scoring with two goals midway through the period.

Justin Hickman, Branden Trock, Riley Sheen, Seth Swanson, Roberts Lipsbergs, and Jared Hauf all scored for Seattle.

Landon Bow suffered his first loss of the season, allowing six goals on 43 shots.

Justin Myles made 25 saves in the win for Seattle in front of 3,269 fans at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash. The game featured only two four minor penalties and neither team was able to capitalize on their two man-advantages.

Sunday, playing their third game in as many days, the Broncos dropped to 0-4 on their U.S. Division road trip with a 4-1 loss to the Everett Silvertips.

The Silvertips beat starter Eetu Laurikainen for three goals on their 13 first-period shots to take a commanding lead to the dressing room.

Honka scored his fifth goal of the season for the Broncos during a secondperiod power play to make a game of it but the hosts responded with a goal late in the middle stanza to close the scoring.

Laurikainen took the loss with 10 saves on 13 shots to fall to 3-6-0-1 and had lost five of his past six starts.

Bow made 16 saves on 17 shots in a relief appearance. Austin Lotz earned the win for Everett with 25 saves.

Joshua Winquist, Ivan Nikolishin, Manraj Hayer, and Tyler Sandhu all scored for Everett in front of 3,837 fans at Comcast Arena.

Everett remained among the top teams in the Western Hockey League with an 8-2-2-0 record. Swift Current dropped to 67-0-1 with their fourth straight loss.

The Broncos will be back at home Saturday for their first home game in 14 days when the Edmonton Oil Kings visit the Credit Union iplex at 7 p.m.

The Oil Kings finished the weekend with a 6-6-0-1 record and are led by Henrik Samuelsson up front with 21 points in his first 13 games.

The Broncos will also visit the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday in the two teams’ first meeting this season.