The Western Hockey League's top regular season team wasn't going to go quietly into the night.

Regina scored three times in quick succession from the late stages of the first period to the early stages of the second period to beat Swift Current 3-2 and force a Game 6 back at the Credit Union iPlex on Saturday.

The Broncos lead the series 3-2.

“They were very good tonight,” said Broncos associate coach Ryan Smith. “I thought they had a jump on us and were a step above us most of the night. We stood around and made some mistakes they put in the back of the net.”

With their season on the line the Pats came out with a strong push early getting up 9-1 on the shot clock, but were unable to beat Jordan Papirny. Swift Current then started to push back and converted a power play on Colby Sisson's 4th of the playoffs late in the first period.

“I thought we had a decent start,” Papirny said. “Obviously an unfortunate call to end the first period and they capitalized on that.”

Arthur Miller was called for a hook in the dying stages of the period and Sam Steel quickly struck for his first of the series on an open shot from the top of the slot to turn the game in Regina's favour.

“We just had a break down on what we were supposed to be doing,” Smith said. “Give one of the best players in the league a shot from the circles it's not good. That did sway the momentum for sure.”

Regina struck twice early in the second period as Connor Hobbs knocked home a rebound on a delayed penalty and 38 seconds later Nick Henry stole a puck in the Swift Current zone and finished a give-and-go. The Pats were then able to defend that lead well for the rest of the game.

“The second period I thought we just sat back a little bit and waited to see what was going to happen,” Papirny said. “Against a team like that you can't do that you don't have any time to sit back.”

The Broncos actually outshot the Pats 26-24 through the second period, but they didn't feel they were doing enough to generate quality chances.

“You don't want to give them any momentum and we did,” Smith said. “We had some shots but not enough. They were the better team tonight. They deserved to win.”

There were a number of scary moments for Broncos fans during the game. Lane Pederson was knocked out of Game 5 midway through the first period on a hit by Dawson Leedahl that sent the veteran Swift Current forward's head into the boards.

The Broncos looked like they were going to lose both Glenn Gawdin and Ryley Lindgren in the third period although both returned. Austin Wagner took a major kneeing penalty and game misconduct for the hit that hurt Lindgren and gave Swift Current a chance to close the gap.

“We have a really resilient group,” Papirny noted. “A couple of guys leaving the game or what not and I thought we responded well. I thought some guys stepped up tonight and played really well. I thought our third line has played really well. Our power play got us when we needed it there. It came down to the last minute and we came up short.”

Towards the end of the major penalty Max Laoie set Tyler Steenbergen up for a one-timer that Gawdin deflected in to cut Regina's lead to 3-2. That's as close as the Broncos could get.

Swift Current went 2 for 6 on the power play, while Regina finished 1 for 4. The Pats also scored on a delayed penalty and had Braydon Buziak stopped on a shorthanded penalty shot.

Filip Ahl and Adam Brooks both returned to the lineup for the Pats. Ahl played significant minutes early and was held back as the game went on. Brooks was dressed, but Regina's captain didn't actually play a shift.

Papirny made 33 saves in another very solid performance. The veteran playoff performer wasn't worried about how his team would bounce back in Game 6 with another opportunity to close out the series.

“Well we're a great team,” Papirny said. “We have a great hockey team and we are going to be fully dialed in tomorrow.”

Tickets go on sale at 8am both at the Stable in the Credit Union iPlex and online at scbroncos.com. Season ticket holders have until 12pm to get their seats.