Ethan Regnier picked a good time to have his best game of the WHL pre-season.

The recently turned 17-year-old forward scored and had two assists as the Swift Current Broncos beat Lethbridge 3-2 in their final exhibition game before the regular season gets started on September 22nd.

"I thought Ethan was arguably the best player in blue tonight," said Broncos associate coach Ryan Smith. "I thought he did a lot of little things. He skated well."

Regnier led the Swift Current Midget AAA Home Hardware Legionnaires in scoring last season and is trying to make his case to make the Broncos this season.

"You don't finish top five in scoring in any league without having some natural ability," Smith said. "He's got that. He's got a lot of things that check a lot of boxes for us, so he's making a strong case for himself."

Veteran Arthur Miller is another player competing for a roster spot at the other end of the spectrum. The overage forward scored twice as he attempts to show he belongs in one of the three 20-year-old spots the Broncos will have.

Taz Burman made 38 saves on 40 Lethbridge shots to rebound from a tough outing in a 6-3 loss to the Hurricanes on Friday.

"I thought Taz was solid tonight," Smith said. "I can't find a fault in his game. He had lots of action and there was lots of special teams that gets the puck around him. He bounced back. He self admitted he didn't have a good game in Lethbridge. As a 20-year-old in this league you have to be a star every night and he was tonight."

Click here for the full interview with Ryan Smith

The Broncos got off to a good start as Regnier dragged the puck off the wall and fired a good low shot that Miller was able to cash on the rebound for a 1-0 lead on the power play. They then killed off a full two-minute 5 on 3 and seemed to be in control.

Lethbridge tied the game up as Hayden Clayton deflected a point shot by Burman midway through the first period.

It was Regnier who stepped up again to give the Broncos their lead back as the Hurricanes won an offensive zone draw but sent the puck into their own zone in the process. Regnier won a race to the puck and fired a shot under the blocker of young goaltender Bryan Thomson for his first WHL pre-season goal.

Despite facing some pressure at times in the second period the Broncos scored the lone goal when Thomson stopped a Regnier shot, but Miller caught him on the rebound by skating to the corner and firing a quick low show under his pads.

The Hurricanes made it close late on a Jadon Jospeh power play goal before Swift Current held on to win in front of a full crowd at the smaller Fairview West Arena. It was a more complete effort than what the Broncos had in Friday's loss.

"We did a lot of little things tonight," Smith said. "We blocked a lot of shots. We were harder on pucks. There was a lot more hitting on our side and on their side. I liked our game better tonight."

Now the Broncos have twelve days to get ready for the start of the regular season with questions about who of the eight players at NHL camp will be back and what cuts the team will make when they do.

For now the focus is all on preparation.

"It'll be a hard work week this week," Smith noted. "Putting in some time in the gym, putting in some conditioning on the ice and really pressing our guys into game shape. As we get a little bit closer we'll dial that down and concentrate on Saskatoon and our game."

The Broncos will have another new face at practice this week after dealing goaltender Bailey Brkin for forward Max Patterson.

Swift Current finished the pre-season with a 2-3 record. They won't be back on home ice until Saturday, October 7th when they host Kootenay at the Innovation Credit Union iPlex.