A controversial goal by Jake Elmer in the third period pushed the game out of reach as Lethbridge beat Swift Current 3-1 on Friday night.

Elmer had knocked over Broncos goaltender Joel Hofer before lifting his 12th of the season over the fallen netminder to extend Lethbridge's lead in a hard fought game.

It was a non-call that didn't sit well with Swift Current.

"I didn’t like the way the game was called at all," said Broncos Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Dean Brockman. "It was awful. The third goal I’m not sure what you’re looking at. When your team is battling the way it is and there’s some missed and non calls. To me that’s really not acceptable... it's hard to make a save when you're getting planted."



Hofer had played another solid game for the Broncos and helped keep them within one before the Elmer goal changed the dynamic of the third period.

The Broncos were able to fight off some early periods of puck control for the Hurricanes and keep the game close.

"I thought our guys battled pretty hard," Brockman said. "They had some sustained pressure but we didn't really give them a lot. We had some opportunities to score in the other end and didn't. I thought for the most part our guys worked pretty hard."

The game was a special one for the Hurricanes as it was the debut of new additions Jake Leschyshyn and Nick Henry. Lethbridge acquired the duo from Regina in a blockbuster deal earlier this week and they came out hard in their first game.

Swift Current did get hemmed in their own end a lot in the early going. They still managed to keep the Hurricanes to the outside and start putting some pressure on the Hurricanes as the scoreless period carried on.

"I thought we did a better job managing  pucks," Brockman said. "Still at times we made some poor decisions, but our guys did a way better job."

Lethbridge took the lead early in the second period as the Hurricanes caught the Broncos on a line change and rookie Justin Hall scored his first career goal to unleash the Teddy Bear Toss.

Swift Current tied the game ten minutes later when Alec Zawatsky pushed forward on a face-off set play to then sliide the puck over to Max Patterseon for his 8th of the season.

Justin Hall then set up Zach Cox to again pull the Hurricanes ahead.

The Broncos went 0 for 2 on the power play and managed to hold the league leading man advantage from Letdbridge to 0 for 4.

"Brandin (Cote) has done a really good job with those guys," Brockman said. "They deserve a lot of credit. They've been listening, they've been working hard at it, doing a lot of extra video... it's really paying off. Guys made some sacrifices with blocked shots... we need our penalty kill."

Hofer made 39 saves in a losing cause for the Broncos.

They lost Alec Zawatsky to a lower body injury in the third period. Brockman doesn't believe it is serious.

The Broncos are right back in action on Saturday against Brandon in the Swift Current Teddy Bear Toss game.