It's only been five games as a trio, but the line of Ethan O'Rourke, Ian Briscoe, and Tyler Smithies has looked in rhythm right from the jump for the Swift Current Broncos.

Smithies' stint as a Bronco has been just those five games, after a deadline deal sent him to Swift Current from the Moose Jaw Warriors.

In that time the line has combined for 11 points, as O'Rourke has three goals and an assist, Briscoe has a goal and three helpers, while Smithies has three assists.

"We just love getting pucks in the zone, and we can kind of carry the play in the zone and play a hard game when we need to," said the veteran O'Rourke. "If not, we have some pretty good skill on that line."

"Smithies has done a great job coming in, he's been a great asset for us already, even though it's been a kind of limited snippet of a time he's been with us," O'Rourke added. "Then Ian and I have been working together for a while now, and it's been a lot of fun working with him. Now we're starting to kind of figure things out, aside from obviously that Kootenay game."

Over their handful of games together, the trio has scored four of 11 Broncos goals, including two in a 4-2 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings - their lone win over that stretch.

In fact, for O'Rourke, it's been a prosperous 2019 in it's brief entirety so far.

After taking 29 games to score his first goal of the season, O'Rourke now has six goals and 13 points over 44 contests.

More than half (four goals and seven points) of those have come in the nine games since the calendar flipped to 2019, a mark that leads the way for the Broncos.

"I think just over these past couple of weeks, my game's come a long way - even just since the Christmas break, everything's been starting to kind of fall into place for me," O'Rourke noted. "It's all I've ever asked for - just to have that opportunity so I can prove what I've been able to do. Every time those minutes start to get that increase, obviously the game gets a little tougher playing against those better opponents, but I like to think that's when I can kind of rise to the challenge, and bring up my game."

A key for the 6-foot-5, 218-pounder has been working to play with a high motor consistently.

"First and foremost is just kind of moving my feet, making sure I keep up with the pace of the game, and I'm able to keep up and get ahead of those top players on the other teams," he said. "Because, if I'm not moving my feet in the game, usually that means I'm starting to get skated circles around a little bit. My issue isn't exactly taking up space out there, the long stick always helps me a lot."

The line of O'Rourke, Briscoe, and Smithies will look to continue producing in game number six together, when the Broncos host the Saskatoon Blades Friday night at the Innovation Credit Union iPlex.

It's a place the Broncos have played eight of their last ten games.

"It just comes with hockey in general - the most important place to play is at home," O'Rourke said. "You're putting on a show for your fans, you want to make sure you bring them back every single night, and make it exciting for them. Even though we might not be winning every game at home, we've never been out of hockey games for the most part all year."

Puck drop in Friday's contest is 7 p.m. at the iPlex. Catch all the action live on The Eagle 94.1 for Robertson Family Group Broncos Hockey, with pregame starting at 6:30.