Four games in five nights caught up to the Swift Current Broncos in Prince Albert on Sunday. A rested Raiders club jumped on the Broncos early and often on the way to a 5-1 victory. The loss was Swift Current's 4th in their last 5 games. They've only scored 5 times over that stretch.
Full Coaches Show“It was one of those games where we had not a whole bunch of jump,” said Broncos Assistant Coach Darren Evjen. “They outplayed us in a lot of areas. If anything if our power play would have got going we could have maybe salvaged something.”
The Broncos ended up 1 for 6 on the power play. Prince Albert was 0 for 2 with both of their chances coming late in the game.
The hosts had a 9-0 shot advantage on Swift Current within the first five minutes of the first period. Mike Winther opened the scoring as he has three whacks at his own rebound to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
Swift Current drew a couple of power play opportunities in the second half of the first period to swing the momentum back in their favour. Coda Gordon banked in a power play goal off of Graham Black in front of the Raider net to tie the game up through twenty minutes of play.
After the Broncos failed to convert an early man advantage in the second period, the Raiders took control of the game. Dakota Conroy deflected in a Mark McNeill pass to restore the Prince Albert lead and turn the tide in their favour. Chance Braid then scored on a deflection and Conroy knocked in his second of the period on a goalmouth scramble to extent Prince Albert's lead to 4-1.
Landon Bow replaced Eetu Laurikainen in the third and Bardaro extended the lead to 5-1 for the Raiders. Laurikainen stopped 29 of 33 shots he faced in 40 minutes of work to take the loss, while Bow made 14 saves on 15 Raider shots. Luke Siemens got the win for the Raiders with 28 saves of his own.
“Eetu played good tonight,” Evjen said. “(Bow) needs to get some experience it's a good opportunity for him to go in. If he goes in there makes some stops, if we get back in the game with a couple of goals then away we go.”
The Broncos seemed to struggle in battles in front of their own goal as their fatigue showed.
“It starts usually before that with a guy running out of position and opening up a hole,” Evjen added. “You've got to play smart and hang in there... when you're tired you've got to use your energy at the right time. You've got to defend and make easy plays.”
Full HighlightsSwift Current tried out some different line combinations as they started with Graham Black between Adam Lowry and Coda Gordon. The line didn't last together throughout the game as the coaching staff tried to mix in some fresher players from the 3rd and 4th line to bring some energy. Swift Current is now 5-5-3-1 on the season and sitting second in the East Division behind Prince Albert.
The Broncos only get one day off on Monday before hosting the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday evening. It's their only home game of the week before a trip to Cranbrook and Lethbridge on the weekend.
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Sat, Apr 20, 1:00 PM
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