The Swift Current Broncos got four third period goals as they doubled up the Spokane Chiefs 8-4 at the InnovationPlex.
Fans were barely in their seats when things started rough for the Broncos as Berkly Catton and Cole Wadsworth scored 44 seconds into the game to make it 2-0 early for Spokane. The Broncos were outshot 14-7 in the first, but they did get goals from Tyson Laventure and Josh Filmon got the Broncos back to even in the first period including Filmon’s coming on the powerplay.
Broncos Assistant Coach Zack Smith said it looked like his team had “ten-pound weights” tied to them.
“It was a little frustrating, we kind of left Joey [Rocha] out to dry there,” Smith said. “They did a great job resetting after the first period, and came back with a different mindset. It was a totally different team in the second period, it was great to see.”
While the Broncos did turn in a better effort in the second period, the teams traded goals in the second as Conner Roulette and Will McIsaac scored for Spokane and Caleb Wyrostok and Clarke Caswell scored for the Broncos. Joey Rocha did get pulled after just about 30 minutes of action stopping 17 of 21. Matthew Kieper came in the rest of the way for the Broncos.
Caswell’s goal tied the game at 4-4, shorthanded and the Broncos didn’t look back from there.
Josh Filmon, Rylan Gould, Caleb Wyrostok, and Dawson Gerwing all scored in the third as the Broncos took over the hockey game, outshooting the Chiefs 11-8 in the final frame.
“We’ve had opportunities to finish teams, and we haven’t done it,” Smith said. “We’re keeping it way to close, letting teams back in, giving them momentum, but tonight I thought they did a great job, we got a little bit of momentum and kept building and not giving anything.”
Kieper ultimately stopped all 12 shots he faced in the victory as the Broncos improve to 19-15-2-2. The Moose Jaw Warriors visit the Broncos on Saturday night for a 7:00pm face-off at Innovationplex with Redhead Equipment Case IH Broncos Hockey on Country 94.1 FM starting at 6:45.