Broncos earn Alberta wins
The Swift Current Broncos secured five of a possible six points during three games in four nights in Alberta last week. The Broncos stretched their winning streak to four games with wins in Edmonton and Red Deer before losing to the Calgary Hitmen in a shootout.
Wednesday, the Broncos slipped past the struggling Edmonton Oil Kings with a 3-2 win. Rookie Aleksi Heponiemi continued his steady offensive production with two points, including the gamewinning goal, to extend his point streak to 12 games with 24 points over that span.
All five goals were scored on the power play as the Broncos won their third straight game and handed the Oil Kings their 15th straight loss.
Kaden Elder opened the scoring with a power play goal 7:58 into the second period, his 12th goal of the season.
Conner Mcdonald replied for the Oil Kings with a power play goal later in the period. Tyler Steenbergen reached the 40-goal plateau with another power play goal for the Broncos for a 2-1 lead after two periods.
Edmonton struck for another power play goal early in the their period when Artyom Baltruk scored to tie the game 2-2. Heponiemi scored the game winner minutes later on the power play, his 21st goal of the season.
Jordan Papirny improved to 17-15-1-1 with 23 saves on 25 shots. Patrick Dea made 26 saves for the Oil Kings.
Friday, the Broncos won their fourth straight game with a 4-1 win over the host Red Deer Rebels. Steenbergen continued his torrid scoring pace with a hat trick against his hometown team for his third multiple-goal performance in the past four games.
Steenbergen scored the only goal of the first period with an unassisted goal, his 41st of the season to extend a fourgame goal streak.
Glenn Gawdin notched his 19th goal of the season midway through the second period to stretch the lead to 2-0 heading in to the third period.
Lane Zablocki cut the lead in half midway through the third period, but Steenbergen replied only 27 seconds later before adding an empty net goal, his 43rd goal of the season to lead all Western Hockey League skaters.
Taz Burman got the win with 26 saves to improve to 12-10-3-0. Lasse Peterson made 28 saves in a losing effort to fall to 12-13-4-0.
Saturday, the Broncos’ winning streak came to an end in a 3-2 shootout loss to the host Calgary Hitmen.
Ryley Lindgren scored both goals for the Broncos, while Matteo Gennaro and Brady Reagan replied for the Hitmen.
Kyle Dumba made 21 saves for the Hitmen before stopping seven of eight Broncos in the 16-player shootout. Papirny took the loss with 31 saves on 33 shots before stopping six of eight skaters in the shootout.
Steenbergen scored the only goal for the Broncos in the shootout. The Hitmen had six opportunities to end the shootout and it was Tristen Nielsen who finally scored.
The Broncos have now won only once in seven games decided in the shootout. They have scored five goals on 26 shootout attempts and allowed 10 goals on 25 attempts against.
The Broncos finished the weekend in third spot in the East Division, five points behind Moose Jaw and five points ahead of Brandon.
The Broncos have two home games this weekend, beginning Friday when they host the Central Division leading Medicine Hat Tigers. The Broncos have lost twice in regulation and once in a shootout to the Tigers heading into the final game of the season series.
The Broncos also host the Everett Silvertips on Saturday. The Silvertips are led by Carter Hart, who leads all Western Hockey League goaltenders with a 2.01 goals against average.