A parade the penalty box turned a 3-0 lead into a 4-3 overtime loss for the Swift Current Broncos in their season opener on Friday night. Moose Jaw scored three times on the man advantage and won their home opener on an Andrew Johnson penalty shot.
"We've got to be more disciplined" said Broncos Assistant Coach Darren Evjen. "At certain times in the games you've got to make a decision. You can't be up by a goal in the third period and take chances on penalties. We have to be better than that."
Swift Current got strong early goaltending from Eetu Laurikainen and a 2-0 edge after the first period. Levi Bews banged home a rebound from a Richard Nedomlel point shot at 8:01 to put Swift Current ahead. Colby Cave then took advantage of a steal by Josh Derko at his own blue line and blew a wrist shot by Warriors netminder Justin Paulic for a shorthanded goal and a 2-0 lead.
Gull Lake's Justin Spagrud added to the lead with his first career WHL goal at 10:07 of the second period. The rookie was in the right place at the right time as a Graham Black centering pass deflected to him right on the doorstep. Despite the early lead, Evjen wasn't impressed with their level of play.
Highlights of The New Pioneer Co-op Home Center Broncos Hockey on The Eagle 94.1 FM"The intensity, the one on one battles, the puck management by the D, there are so many different little things that go into when you're sharp and ready to play," Evjen noted. "Right from the get go we didn't have our 'A' game and it never did come."
The next half of the game wasn't nearly as kind to the Broncos as they took five minor penalties in the second period and let Moose Jaw back into it. Sam Fioretti had a Torrin White shot deflect off him and in for the first of three Moose Jaw power play goals. Carter Hansen then cut the Swift Current lead to 3-2 on a 5 on 3 by finishing a Justin Kirsch shot that hit the crossbar.
The Warriors completed the comeback on another power play in the third period when Kirsch hammered home a puck that deflected to him at 5:46. Moose Jaw finished 3 for 9 on the power play, while the Broncos were 0 for 3. Swift Current did have an extended 5 on 3 and a couple of major power plays they couldn't convert on.
After scoring a goal and getting an assist, Kirsch was booted out of the game for a late hit from behind on Reece Scarlett. The veteran Bronco defenceman was taken off the ice on a stretcher and brought to hospital. Scarlett later tweeted that he was "doing fine" and there was "nothing seriously wrong" after the hit.
Andrew Johnson won the game for the Warriors in overtime on a penalty shot after he tried to split Swift Current's defencemen and was taken down. Laurikainen got a piece of Johnson's shot, but couldn't keep it out of the back of the net. The Finn made 34 saves in his WHL regular season debut to take the loss. Paulic stopped 23 of 26 Swift Current shots.
Post-Game Coach's Show with Darren Evjen"We're pretty fortunate to walk out of here with a point," Evjen said. "It wasn't a well played game for us in a lot of different areas. Eetu would be our first star and it would be a steep drop after that."
Despite the loss, Evjen is confident they will be ready for the re-match on Saturday night at the Credit Union iPlex.
"We'll look at video and have a video session with the guys," Evjen added. "We'll clean it all up. I would expect us to be ready to go (Saturday). The guys realize that we didn't give our best game. With our leadership group and the group we have in there I would expect a team ready to come out and play a pretty good hockey game."
Saturday's home opener features a warm up party sponsored in part by The Eagle 94.1 FM. It will feature prize giveaways as well as food and beverage specials in the parking lot of the iPlex. Doors open at 4:00pm and admission is free.
There is also an after-party in the curling rink with a performance by Trooper.
Puck drop is just after 7:00pm and you can listen live with The New Pioneer Co-op Home Center Broncos Hockey on The Eagle 94.1 FM starting with our pre-game show at 6:30pm.
Click here for the boxscore
Click here for the Discover Moose Jaw recap
Click here for the Broncos website recap
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