Broncos upend rival Pats
The Swift Current Broncos played three close games last week, emerging with a comeback win over the Regina Pats.
Wednesday, the Broncos scored three unanswered goals to defeat the Regina Pats 4-3 to win for the first time in four attempts this season.
The Broncos trailed 3-2 after two periods before Joona Kiviniemi and Tanner Nagel scored to lift the Bronco to the victory.
The Broncos fell behind 2-0 in the first period. Scott Mahovlich knocked home a rebound for his fifth goal of the season and Brett Clayton scored 5:14 later to double the lead.
The Broncos scored twice in the second period to trail 3-2. Andrew Fyten opened the scoring for the Broncos with a breakaway power play goal, his seventh of the season. The referee initially called no goal but replay changed the call to a goal. Riley Krane quickly replied for the Pats, but Fyten notched another goal to cut the lead in half for a second time.
Kiviniemi got behind the Pats defense 11:18 into the third period and lifted a puck over the short side shoulder of Max Paddock. Nagel scored the game winner with 3:16 left on the clock when he beat Paddock with a high wrist shot on the rush.
Joel Hofer made 36 saves to improve to 4-17-1-1.
Friday, the Broncos’ twogame home winning streak came to an end in a 6-4 loss to the Prince Albert Raiders.
The Broncos had shocked the CHL leading Raiders with a shootout win on Dec. 4, but were unable to pull off a second straight upset in a fight-filled game.
The Raiders jumped ahead 2-0 in the first period. Carson Miller knocked home a rebound 8:32 into the game and Noah Gregor got behind the defense for a power play goal 2:27 later for his 17th goal of the season.
The two teams combined for three goals in the second period as the Raiders jumped ahead 4-1. Eric Pearce scored first to make it 3-0 Prince Albert. The Broncos got on the board 12:41 into the middle stanza when Joona Kiviniemi’s weak wrist shot trickled through Raiders’ back-up Donovan Buskey. Sean Montgomery scored while shorthanded to restore the threegoal lead.
The Broncos outscored the Raiders 3-2 in the final frame to make things interesting. Spencer Moe scored for the Raiders while shorthanded to make it 5-1.
Alec Zawatsky and Connor Horning scored 1:37 apart to cut the deficit to two goals, but Montgomery scored into an empty net with 1:04 remaining in regulation. Matthew Culling replied for the Broncos with 41 seconds left on the clock to close the scoring.
The game featured five fights, including two apiece from Broncos’ overagers Tanner Nagel and Matthew Stanley.
Hofer made 30 saves to fall to 4-18-1-1. Buskey stopped 22 shots to improve to 7-6-0-0 for the Raiders.
Saturday, the Broncos led 4-2 in the second period, but allowed four straight goals in a 7-5 loss in Prince Albert.
Highlighting the night for the Broncos was callup Dawson Springer scoring in his WHL debut in his hometown rink. Springer had signed with the Broncos earlier in the week after being acquired in the Max Patterson trade from the Everett Silvertips.
Culling, Kiviniemi, Ethan O’rourke, and Zawatsky also scored.
Hofer took the loss with 49 saves on 56 shots. Buskey allowed four goals on 10 shots in 26:08 for the Raiders. Brett Balas came on and made seven saves on eight shots over the final 33:52.
The Broncos will enter the holiday break with a 6-24-1-1 record. They will return to league action on Dec. 27 when they visit the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Broncos Bits: The Broncos announced on Saturday that they had signed defenseman Chase Lacombe to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. The 16-year-old from Moose Jaw has three assists in 30 games with the Humboldt Broncos in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey
League. He was acquired in the Jacson Alexander deal from the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Broncos traded overage forward Andrew Fyten to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Thursday. The Broncos received a conditional fifth round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft. Fyten was tied for second on the team with eight goals and was second with 17 points in 27 games this season.