Brayden Point and Sam Fioretti both scored in the shootout to lift the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 3-2 win over the Swift Current Broncos on Friday night.
Their victory spoiled the comeback for the Broncos and sent a big crowd of nearly 2600 loud fans home unhappy.
Swift Current has made a habit out of coming back from early deficits and did it again as the erased a 2-0 Warriors lead in the third period on goals by Jay Merkley and Brycen Martin. Point and Jack Rodewald scored for Moose Jaw.
"I liked the way we came on in the third," said Broncos Associate Coach Darren Evjen. "But the first two periods our battle and our directness of play just wasn't there."
"We need guys to be ready to go and they've got to do dig. Moose Jaw... they're a hard team. They compete hard."
The Broncos were outshot 23-11 through two periods and were losing most of the battles in the process.
"Everywhere they were winning battles," Evjen said. "Even our penalty kill tonight the puck is just going through us like crazy."
Despite hitting two posts in the second period the flow of the play was in Moose Jaw's favour. Swift Current started to take some of it back towards the end of the period and came to life after they regrouped in the second intermission.
"It's a hardness discussion," Evjen noted. "We've got to start pushing here. We've got to start competing on pucks. Wherever the battle is we've got to dive in a little harder. Everybody needs to do that."
Martin both had the big tying goal and stepped up to play big minutes in the absence of Julius Honka and when Dillon Heatherington left the game late.
"He was unbelievable tonight," Evjen said. "I thought him and (Brett Lernout) were good the whole game. Martin did so many good things. His play just rose tonight and he made some great plays."
There was no initial update on Heatherington's condition. Swift Current also lost Jordan Harris on his first shift back from injury when he was knocked down by a hard right hand in a fight with Scott Cooke. Those injuries could potential leave the Broncos with only eleven forwards and five defencemen for the re-match in Moose Jaw on Saturday.
Justin Paulic made 26 saves to earn the win, while Eetu Laurikainen stopped 33 shots in a losing cause. Swift Current went 1 for 3 on the power play and the Warriors were 1 for 2.
Graham Black and Colby Cave each had 2 assists in a losing cause.
Swift Current is now 1-5 in shootouts this season and have lost twice in shootouts against Moose Jaw on home ice. They've won both games they've played in Moose Jaw this season and visit the Warriors on Saturday.
You can listen to the game live on The Eagle 94.1 FM starting with our pre-game show at 6:30pm.
Fri, Apr 26, 7:00 PM
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