Max Patterson finished off a Gordie Howe hat-trick with the game winning goal as the Swift Current Broncos won a wild affair 6-5 in Prince Albert today.

The Broncos had leads of 1-0, 2-1, 5-3 and 6-5 before securing the two points.

“Sunday afternoon a three-in-three it was probably going to be like this,” said Broncos Associate Coach Ryan Smith. “A little bit loose in the d-zone and some tired bodies on both sides. At the end of the day we were fortunate but played well at times. It was up and down. We like the points for sure, but we need to fix some things and improve on some of the things we are doing well.”

Swift Current got some key contributions from their secondary scoring like Patterson's goal, assist and fight, while Andrew Fyten delivered two first period goals.

“Fyten with a couple in the first period was huge,” Smith said. “Getting Patterson involved he can make plays. He's a good player, he's got hands, good vision and a big body... there's lots of good players in the lineup that can step up. That's the way we want to be.”

Swift Current opened the scoring on a nice rush by Giogio Estephan creating a chance in the slot for Beck Malenstyn. Andrew Fyten then pounced on his rebound and put in his 8th of the season.

Prince Albert bounced back right after killing off a Broncos power play. Their fourth line caught Swift Current's tired second unit deep in their own zone and Nikita Krivokrasov struck on a rebound to tie the game.

Fyten gave the Broncos their second lead of the period on another rebound goal. Malenstyn stole a puck behind the Raiders net and his quick wrap-around ended up on Fyten's stick for his 9th of the season.

The Raiders again tied the game late in the period on a 4 on 3 power play with Glenn Gawdin in the box for hooking. Jordy Stallard made a nice head fake from the top of the slot and Stuart Skinner bit on it to open up a low blocker shot for Stallard's 37th of the season.

Prince Albert took the lead early in the second period as Kody McDonald deflected in a Curtis Miske shot for a 3-2 Raiders lead.

It didn't last long. Gawdin converted a very nice pass by Patterson on the power play for his 48th of the season to tie the game and the Broncos kept coming.

Gawdin then set Josh Anderson up for a one-timer through traffic and then Tyler Steenbergen one-timed a snap shot through the five-hole of Scott and Swift Current took a 5-3 lead on Steenbergen's 39th of the season.

That was the end of Scott's game as he was replaced by Curtis Meger.

Gawdin ended up with three points on the night and now leads the WHL in points with 104.

Prince Albert didn't go away. The Raiders came on strong in third period and erased the deficit. McDonald banked a puck off Skinner from behind the net for a power play goal to close the gap and put Swift Current on their heels. Cole Fonstad then ripped his 17th of the season over Skinner's glove to tie the game with six minutes to play.

“We assumed maybe they were going to fold after the second,” Smith said. “They're in a dog fight for the playoffs. I think we got away from our game. We wanted to stay disciplined and we take two penalties in the first four and a half minutes. We wanted to take care of the puck and we turned it over in the neutral zone. We gave them a chance to get into it. They took advantage with their good play.”

That's when Patterson took advantage of another Raiders turnover to knock in his own rebound for a 6-5 lead and his 8th goal of the season.

The Broncos held on despite some scrambly moments late to secure the victory and all six points they had up for grabs this weekend. Swift Current They are now within three points of Moose Jaw for top spot in the WHL, although the Warriors have three games in hand.

Swift Current hit the 40 win mark for the first time since the 2008-09 season and still have 15 games to play.

The Broncos were missing Tanner Nagel who was hurt in Saturday's game against Brandon. He is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Next action for Swift Current is Wednesday at home against Brandon. They then face Medicine Hat in a home-and-home on the weekend.