Geekie leads Broncos to victory twice on home ice
The Swift Current Broncos, led by a five goals from Conor Geekie, won two of three games in the Western Hockey League last week.
Tuesday, led by a Geekie hat trick, the Broncos edged the visiting Red Deer Rebels 4-3.
The Broncos opened the scoring 1:37 into regulation with a power play marker from Geekie to end a zero-for-32 stretch on the power play. Peyton Kettles doubled the lead midway through the first period with a point shot for his first WHL goal.
The Rebels got on the board 1:02 into the middle stanza when Shaunavon’s Kalan Lind converted a rebound for his 11th goal. They tied the game minutes later with an Ollie Josephson goal. The Broncos regained the lead when Geekie snapped a puck into the top corner midway through the period.
Geekie completed the hat trick 1:51 into the third period to give the Broncos another twogoal lead. Kai Uchacz gave the Rebels a chance for the comeback with his 34th goal midway through the final frame.
Reid Dyck was solid in goal with 33 saves. Chase Wutzke took the loss with 23 saves.
Friday, the Broncos won their second straight game with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings.
The Broncos scored the only goal of a sluggish first period when Geekie fired home his 30th goal from the slot.
The Oil Kings tied the game with a power play goal off the stick of Gracyn Sawchyn midway through the second period. Connor Gabriel gave the Broncos a second lead when his shot from the high slot went in for his seventh goal of the season.
Geekie and Rylan Gould added insurance goals in the third period to secure the win.
Dyck made 25 saves to improve to 13-6-2-0. Saturday, the Broncos came up just short against the top ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League in a 3-2 loss to the Saskatoon Blades, who became the first WHL team to clinch a playoff spot this season.
The Blades opened the scoring 6:27 into the first period with an Egor Sidorov power play goal, his 42nd goal of the season.
The Broncos were awarded a five-minute power play in the second period, but managed only one shot on goal with a chance to tie the game. Brady Birnie tied the game with 6:29 remaining in the second period when he found the puck off a face-off and outwaited the goaltender before lifting the puck into the net.
The Blades took a second lead early in the third period on Brandon Lisowsky’s 30th goal of the season, a seeingeye shot from the point. The Broncos tied the game a second time when Clarke Caswell fired home his 16th goal. The Blades scored the winning goal 11:28 into the period when Lukas Hansen took advantage of a turnover and scored on a breakaway to close the scoring.
Joey Rocha took the loss with 24 shots to fall to 8-11-1-0.
The Broncos remained fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 26-19-3-2 record. The Broncos will visit the Regina Pats on Friday and then host the Pats on Saturday. They will also host the Moose Jaw Warriors on Monday at 5 p.m. on Family Day.