Aleksi Heponiemi had a goal, an assist and the shootout winner as the Swift Current Broncos beat Red Deer 5-4 today.

“He does a little bit of everything,” said Broncos associate coach Ryan Smith. “He's scoring goals, he's making plays and I thought tonight he played really well in his own zone. It's nice to see him growing as a player because the league doesn't get easier as you go forward.”

It was Swift Current's first win in the shootout in six tries as Jordan Papirny stopped all three Rebels shooters for his first victory as a Bronco. The Broncos were 0-5 in their previous shootout attempts this seasons including a loss against Tri-City on Saturday.

“I always think it's 50/50 when it goes to the shootout but we'll take the extra point,” Smith noted. “We've been unlucky, not sharp or however you want to say it we haven't been able to find a shootout win. Today it was good to get it maybe a monkey off our back.”



Colby Sissons, Kaden Elder and Tyler Steenbergen also scored as Swift Current had four different leads in the game.

The Rebels came back every time on the strength of two goals each from Michael Spacek and Austin Glover.

“This weekend in particular we weren't good battling in front of our net getting pucks and people out of the way,” Smith said. “We let too many goals just stand there and whack them in. If the goalie is making the first or second save you've got to clear that puck out. You've got to be harder to play against. That's on individuals it comes down to winning those battles in front of the net.”

There was a lot of physical play in the game including several big hits and a heavy hitting fight between Arthur Miller and Cameron Hausinger.

“It was an up and down game for both teams,” Smith said. “It was a heavy game. It was kind of like a pro game there was not a lot of room there. It was a pretty close affair."

After some struggles on special teams this weekend the Broncos went 1 for 2 on the power play and shut down both Rebels opportunities on the man advantage.

“That's been a big thing we've been focused on obviously,” Sissons said. “We've dropped in our PK from last year when we were one of the higher in the league. We've got a ways to climb but a good start tonight.”



Papirny and Riley Lamb each made 33 saves to get their team through overtime. Heponiemi was the only one of six shooters to score during the shootout.

Swift Current earned three of a possible six points as they played three games in three days over the weekend. It started with a 7-3 loss in Medicine Hat on Friday, followed by a 4-3 shootout loss to Tri-City on Saturday and then the win today.

“I think we had a good bounce back after that game in Medicine Hat,” Sissons said.

The Broncos have won ten of their last fourteen games and moved to within a single point of Moose Jaw for second place in the WHL East Division.

Up next for the Broncos is a visit to Lethbridge on Wednesday and then a date at home against the CHL's top team from Regina on Saturday.