Broncos win wild 8-7 game in Saskatoon

Coda Gordon's goal at 2:56 of overtime finally gave the Swift Current Broncos a lead they couldn't surrender in an 8-7 win in Saskatoon.

The Broncos had leads of 3-0, 5-3, 6-4 and 7-6 before finally securing the win in extra time.

"You think you've seen everything," said Broncos associate coach Josh Dixon. "The back and forth lead changes, the ice stoppages, all the dogs running around the arena... it was one of those games for the dogs. At least we got the two points."

It was Pucks and Paws night in Saskatoon with money donated towards the local SPCA and dogs littered throughout the audience. The goalies must have felt like chew toys as it was a shooting gallery with sloppy defensive play from both teams.

"You always have to learn from every game you play," Dixon said. "There are some performances we want to make sure we highlight... some positive and some not so positive... but at the same time in terms of the actual game you can't too much time trying to over-analyze the system breakdowns. We have to move forward."

Brett Lernout scored his first career hat trick to lead the way for Swift Current as he doubled his goal total to six on the season.

"It feels good," Lernout said. "I had the guys to help me out, just get me the puck and got the pucks through."

He admitted it was "pretty special" to do it against his former team in Saskatoon.

The Broncos also got two goals and two assists from Andreas Schumacher in a breakthrough night. Glenn Gawdin scored once and had three assists and Dillon Heatherington added three helpers.

"For (Schumacher) to find a way to battle and get to the front of the net," Dixon said. "He's had a bit of a difficult time kind of finding his way. It's a big adjustment for him playing in this league and a different ice surface than in Sweden. He's shown tremendous growth and improvement. Great to see him rewarded."

Landon Bow stopped 37 shots to earn the win. Swift Current is in Edmonton on Wednesday.