A game but undermanned Swift Current Broncos club pulled out a gutsy 4-1 victory in Moose Jaw on Saturday night.
Down 7 regulars who combined for 166 points this season, the Broncos played with only 10 forwards and 5 defencemen against the Warriors. They put together a complete effort and managed to snap Moose Jaw's three-game winning streak despite their handicap.
"It's such a gutsy victory," said Broncos Associate Coach Darren Evjen. "Everybody was all-in. It was really a team effort. Those kinds of things just replicate how deep your team will go and how much character you have."
"To do so many little hard things right... everybody stepped up their game."
Already missing Coda Gordon and Justin Spagrud to injury, while Julius Honka and Glenn Gawdin were away at international events, Jordan Harris and Dillon Heatherington were hurt on Friday, and Graham Black was a last minute scratch sick.
The Broncos opened the scoring only 18 seconds into the game as Jay Merkley sprung Jake DeBrusk and the rookie sped behind Kevin Pochuk before ripping his 6th of the season by Justin Paulic.
"When you score early it always is a key to games," Evjen said. "We really knew we had to come in here and play as a pack. The goals were good and that, but the biggest thing was our little things we did so well and how guys paid the price."
"It is the best win since I've been here that's for sure."
Moose Jaw responded at 3:02 of the first periods when a Pochuk shot was deflected by Bryson Gore, hit the post and hit off the back of Landon Bow for Gore's 6th of the season.
Swift Current had a couple of power play chances midway through the period with very different looking units due to their depleted lineup. They had a few good looks, but weren't able to cash in on the opportunities. However, the Broncos bookended the period with another goal at 19:53 of the period as Merkley won a draw in the Moose Jaw end, while Brycen Martin set Brett Lernout up for a one-timer. The big defenceman is up to 5 goals and 13 points on the season after putting up only 2 points as a rookie.
The Broncos managed to extend their lead in the second period at 8:13 as Cavin Leth stole a puck in the neutral zone and made a nice pass across to Andrew Johnson. He hit the crossbar, but the puck bounced back to Cole Bevan who fired a shot that Zac Mackay deflected for his 8th goal of the season.
Colby Cave then gave the Broncos an extra cushion as he re-directed a nice saucer pass from Johnson for his 21rst and a 4-1 lead. The goal allowed Cave to tie his career high.
Swift Current then turned to Bow in the third period as he made a few terrific saves to cut off any Moose Jaw comeback. He made 35 stops to secure the win, while Paulic allowed 4 goals on 26 shots.
"In the third period on the power play they had a couple of opportunities that were just golden," Evjen said. "He steps up and make save when we needed it. Then we played the clock."
Lernout was named the game's first star as he and Martin had to step up and play over 30 minutes without both members of the usual top defensive pair in the lineup.
"Not to take anything away from anybody but (Lernout) put in a lot of minutes tonight," Evjen noted. "He played real smart, physical, made some great plays... handling the puck and moving it real well. He just did a great job for us. Dominating, winning battles, getting sticks on pucks and Martin the same way. He's played so well of late."
The Broncos went 0 for 5 on the man advantage, while holding Moose Jaw to 0 for 2.
There is no update yet on how long Heatherington and Harris may be out injured. Gordon is expected back soon.
Swift Current's next game is New Year's Day in Saskatoon. We've got the game for you on The Eagle 94.1 FM starting with our pre-game show at 6:30pm.
Click here for post-game audio
Thu, Apr 25, 6:00 AM
Agriculture, Transport
Featured
