Broncos earn gritty road win in Brandon

Landon Bow made 52 saves and shut the door in the shootout as the Swift Current Broncos won 3-2 in Brandon on Tuesday night.

“We're very proud of our guys,” said Broncos associate coach Josh Dixon. “That was a very gutsy, hard working battle type effort tonight. They're a difficult team to play anywhere let alone in their own building where we haven't had a lot of success. I'm very proud of our group in the effort, the resiliency and certainly the character.”

Broncos Coach/GM Mark Lamb asked for more out of his goaltenders before the game and he got it from the veteran as Bow battled for every puck in a key road win to break a three game losing skid.

“In the shootout, in overtime, late in the third period on the penalty kill he made some really big saves,” Dixon said. “He was just solid all night long. He managed the game well... he made the key saves at the key time.”

“The biggest thing for both our goaltenders is just making sure there's no soft and unnecessary goals.”

Max Lajoie scored the winner as the Broncos won for the third straight time when a game has gone to the shootout after losing their first four.

Carter Rigby offered some inspiration for Swift Current as the veteran returned to the lineup despite an upper body injury that made him a game time decision. He scored, had an assist, saved a goal late with a penalty to prevent Morgan Klimchuk from giving Brandon the lead and nearly set the game winner up in overtime.

“The presence that Carter brings in the dressing room is tremendous,” Dixon said. “Certainly getting Carter back was a big lift. His goal was big for us to get us going on the right foot, the minutes he eats up, the match up he plays, his physicality and his strength against the wall. All those little intangibles are excellent.”

Rigby's goal in the first period gave the Broncos the first goal in a game for only the second time since the Christmas break. He blasted a one-timer on the power play behind Wheat Kings goaltender Jordan Papirny for his 14^th of the season.

Swift Current built on that when Jake DeBrusk fired a puck on the Brandon goal and put his own rebound in for his 28^th of the season early in the second period. That goal seemed to spark Brandon as the Wheat Kings pushed back in a big way the rest of the second and for much of the third.

Tim McGauley notched his 30^th of the season to give Brandon life and Klimchuk tied it after a series of Bow saves in the third period.

Both teams had chances to win it late as Papirny stole a goal from Zac Mackay on the rebound of a Tanner LeSann breakaway and Brandon had a power play in the final minute of regulation the Broncos were able to survive.

It was a strong night for the penalty kill as they held the second best power play in the league to 0 for 4 on the night including two late in the third period and one that carried into overtime.

“It was a combination of the penalty kill being detail oriented and doing a good job in the pre-scout making sure we identified Brandon's strengths,” Dixon said. “Players did a good job absorbing that information and applying it on the ice. The second part of that is the sacrifice level and players willing to block shots.”

With veteran leader Dillon Heatherington out for 4 to 6 weeks, defenceman Ayrton Nikkel had a big night for Swift Current on that PK and in helping shut down Brandon's top weapons. He's a guy the Broncos are hoping can step up and fill some of the void left by Heatherington.

“That's the best game I've seen him play,” noted Dixon. “In terms of his defensive play, his physicality and his puck management. He kept the game simple, he made a good first pass... but boy was he difficult to play against off the rush, difficult to play against in our zone, very physical and very tight checking as well.”

Heatherington is one of several key players out of the lineup that includes veteran Coda Gordon for an undetermined amount of time as well as Jordan Harris and Cole Johnson for the remainder of the season. Illness has also been running through the team over recent weeks.

The win puts Swift Current five points ahead of Moose Jaw for third in the East Division with their next five games coming against two teams bellow them in the division standings. They play Saskatoon three times and Prince Albert twice, but those games won't be easy as the Blades have won five in a row and the Raiders have taken all three games in the season series between the two clubs.

You can listen to Friday's game in Swift Current on The Eagle 94.1 FM starting with our pre-game show at 6:30pm. Puck drop is after 7pm at the Credit Union iPlex.