Broncos capitalize against Rebels
The Swift Current Broncos got solid goaltending from Isaac Poulter as they won once in three outings last week.
Tuesday, the Broncos got 54 saves from Poulter and scored six goals on 22 shots to defeat the visiting Red Deer Rebels 6-4.
The Broncos won for the third time in the past five games as they rode another dominating performance from Poulter to their sixth win of the season. Poulter improved to 6-7-1-1 with a 3.28 goals against average and a 0.918 save percentage.
Brecon Wood led the Broncos with two goals and one assist. Justin Svenson and Cohner Saleski both scored their first Western Hockey League goals in the win. Jaxan Kaluski and Eric Houk also scored for the Broncos. Defenseman Hendrik de Klerk and import Sergei Alkhimov each finished with two assists.
The game was tied 2-2 after one period, the Broncos led 3-2 after two periods, before they outscored Red Deer 3-2 in the final frame to clinch the win.
Jaxsen Wiebe, Dawson Barteaux, Christoffer Sedoff, and Arshdeep Bains replied for the Rebels. Byron Fancy took the loss with 16 saves on 22 shots. Swift Current’s Chase Coward made his WHL debut in a 59-second stint in the third period without facing a shot.
Friday, the Broncos were unable to secure their second winning streak of the season after a 4-1 loss to the host Prince Albert Raiders.
Cole Nagy opened the scoring for the Raiders in the second period. Raphael Pelletier tied the game with his first WHL goal later in the period.
The Raiders buried three third-period goals from Aliaksei Protas, Spencer Moe, and Brayden Watts into an empty net to clinch the win.
Poulter took the loss with 33 saves on 36 shots. Boston Bilous earned the win with 21 saves.
Saturday, the Broncos lost for the second time to the Raiders in as many days with a 4-1 loss at home.
The Raiders fired 21 shots on goal in the first period as they jumped ahead on goals from Reece Vitelli and Watts.
Alkhimov launched the teddy bear toss 3:46 when he fired a shot home on the rush to cut the lead in half. The Raiders quickly restored the two-goal lead at the 10:01 mark when Ozzy Wiesblatt converted a nice set-up from Ilya Usau for his 11th goal of the season.
Wiesblatt added an insurance goal midway through the final frame.
Poulter took the loss with 40 saves to fall to 6–9-11, while Carter Serhyenko improved to 3-3-0-0 with 18 saves.
The Broncos fell to 6-15-1-2, while the Raiders improved to 18-5-3-1.
The Broncos will continue a busy stretch this weekend when they host the Everett Silvertips on Friday and the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday. They will also visit the Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday.