Lane Pederson against the Raiders (photo by Darwin Knelsen for scbroncos.com)

Reid Gardiner broke a five game goalless drought with the overtime winner as the Prince Albert Raiders knocked off the Swift Current Broncos 3-2 tonight.

It was another close battle and the fourth straight game between the two teams that has wound up in extra time.

"It was a pretty good game," said Broncos associate coach Ryan Smith. "We killed off some penalties, our power play scored tonight and there was lots of good things happening. We continue to shoot ourselves in the foot but allowing a late goal when we're up by one. We're just giving points away."

Up 2-1 in the third period the Broncos started to run around their own zone a little bit as Prince Albert worked an effective cycle game.

"They started to activate their D down the wall," Smith said. "It's natural for a team like us because we've been in so many of these games to shy off a bit. We can't play like that we have to get more aggressive."

Tyler Steenbergen scored both Swift Current goals. The sophomore forward has now scored 8 goals in his last 7 games and 16 of his 18 goals in 26 games since the Broncos returned from the Christmas break.

"He's got some speed and he's got some confidence," Smith said. "He's starting to evolve into that player we envisioned back in the draft when we took him. It's only going to get better for Steener. He's got to learn from what he's doing well and do it better... and keep shooting the puck he's got a real good shot."

After a tough run for the penalty kill as of late, the Broncos held Prince Albert to 0 for 4 on their man advantage. They also scored a shorthanded goal and struck for a goal on their power play.

"We just stuck to the details," Smith noted. "(Coach) Mark (Lamb) has had a couple of meetings with our team and shown them some stuff about our PK and how it's breaking down and leaking. Tonight it didn't. I thought the guys did a really good job and they paid attention to details."

The game was scoreless through the first period despite two early Prince Albert power plays. The Raiders thought they had opened the scoring on their third man advantage early in the second period, but the goal was waived off due to Prince Albert having too many men on the ice.

Jordan Tkatch eventually gave Prince Albert the opening goal on a one-timer during a delayed penalty call. Swift Current struck back on Steenbergen's shorthanded goal as his initial shot bounced off the glass and came right back to him for a tap-in.

He scored again early in the third period on a very nice passing play where every Broncos player on the ice touched the puck before Steenbergen slammed it home.

Hunter Warner snuck in from the point and tied the game for the Raiders with 6:42 left to play in the third period to force overtime.

The Broncos and Raiders have now split their season series and all six games have come down to the wire. They'll play another home and home before the end the season.

Taz Burman made 27 saves in a losing cause for the Broncos.

Swift Current's overtime loss combined with Edmontons win over Portland stretched the Oil Kings lead to nine points over the Broncos for the final playoff spot in the WHL Eastern Conference. Swift Current has 12 games left to play compared to 11 for Edmonton.

The Broncos host Medicine Hat on Friday and Calgary on Saturday. You can hear both games live on The Eagle 94.1 FM starting with our pre-game show at 6:30pm.