A big boost to their line-up and a boost in the win column as well.

The Swift Current Broncos received some key re-enforcements Wendesday night in Cranbrook, as the returns of captain Glenn Gawdin and forward Cole Johnson helped lead the Broncos to a 5-2 win over the Kootenay Ice.

"We've got some players that can play and guys that are waiting in the wings to get back into the line-up so it is nice to be healthy again," said Broncos Associate Coach Ryan Smith. "With that, it is hard to match-up against us. We become a little bit harder to match lines and tonight (Wednesday) I think we took advantage of that."

Both Gawdin and Johnson were able to make immediate impacts on the scoresheet in their respective returns.

Johnson picked up an assist on Connor Chaulk's third goal of the season before scoring himself late in the second period.

For Gawdin, he got his name onto the scoresheet when he picked up an assist on an Aleksi Heponiemi goal in the third.

"He was very good," Smith spoke of Gawdin following the game. "He won some draws and didn't shy away from traffic. He has worked very hard to be ready for this night. The moment he was injured, his focus was getting back. It was never a question of would he come back, it was just when and I think he showed the hard work he put in."

After Kooteney jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the game, it was Chaulk's goal that put the two teams back on even ground.

Ryan Graham later deflected home a Max Lajoie shot to give the Broncos their first lead of the night, however, it was short lived as the Ice stormed back just under two minutes later to tie the game 2-2.

"It felt like we started both the first and second periods slow but then got going and took the game over," said Smith. "I thought we spread the Ice out really well tonight, we made them chase the puck and made them play to us. I thought all around our line-up from top to bottom, everyone was pretty much on."

In the middle frame, Tyler Steenbergen buried his team leading 22nd goal of the season to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead.

Johnson then added the insurance goal when a Riley Stotts pass deflected off his skate and into the net.

"Johnny comes in and gets a goal, which was nice to see, going to the net hard," Smith added. "I thought he was great on the fore-check as well."

The lone goal of the third period came when Gawdin moved the puck up to Heponiemi who made no mistake.

Travis Child made 21 saves to earn the win for Swift Current.

With the victory, the Broncos improved to 16-10-3-4 on the season, but still remain four points behind the Moose Jaw Warriors for 2nd place in the WHL East Division. The Warriors defeated the Prince Albert Raiders 4-1 Wednesday night.

That same Prince Albert team will be Swift Current's next opponent.

The two teams will meet up at the Credit Union iPlex on Friday in an Eastern Conference tilt. The Broncos will then visit the Raiders in their final game before the holiday break on Saturday night.