Stuart Skinner made 41 saves as the Lethbridge Hurricanes knocked off the Swift Current Broncos 5-1 tonight.

The Broncos were buzzing around the Lethbridge net all night and just couldn't find the answer to the big draft eligible goaltender.

“I don't really think it was a 5-1 hockey game,” said Broncos head coach Manny Viveiros. “I thought we played a really good first period and a really good second period where we had numerous chances to score and just couldn't finish.”

Ryan Vandervlis scored late in the second period and early in the third on chances from the slot to pull Lehtbridge ahead.

“They scored late in the second period and after that we're playing catch up,” Viveiros said. “We had some really good chances in the third period too. We got behind the 8-ball and had to take some chances and they capitalized on some odd-man rushes. I'm very happy with our effort for most part of the hockey game, but at the end of the day we end up losing the game.”

The Broncos were at their best in the second period outshooting the Hurricanes 19-9. They had Lethbridge pinned deep throughout the period and kept forcing turnovers to create chances right in front of the net. Skinner stood his ground.

“Their goaltender played really well,” Viveiros said. “Those were grade a scoring chances. In this sport that's the hardest thing to do is score goals and it didn't work for us tonight.”

Conner Chaulk scored the lone goal for Swift Current converting after a highlight reel rush by Aleksi Heponiemi on the power play.

Despite an effort they were generally satisfied with the Broncos are still concerned with their play in front of their own goal.

“We've got to protect our net front area a lot better,” Viveiros said. “They got a couple of free looks from there.”

Special teams were a positive for Swift Current as they went 1 for 3 on their power play and held a very good Lethbridge man advantage to 0 for 2. It's another step forward for a penalty kill that had been struggling.

“That's two games in a row we haven't up a goal,” Viveiros said. “It's a matter of execution. We made a couple of tweaks again. Having Papirny in net tonight was good he was a backbone for us and made some really good saves too.”

Jordan Papirny made 33 saves for the Broncos in a losing cause.

It was the final game of the season series and Lethbridge took three out of the four between the two clubs.

Swift Current was missing Ryan Graham, Owen Blocker and Kole Gable from their lineup and down to only ten healthy forwards. They all could be available shortly and in some cases even potentially by the weekend.

After a Moose Jaw win in Kelowna the Broncos are now three points back of the Warriors for second place in the WHL East Division. Swift Current hosts Regina on Saturday night on Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame night at the Credit Union iPlex.