The Swift Current Broncos had an 11-game home winning streak snapped on Tuesday night at the InnovationPlex.
The Broncos fell 5-3 to the Moose Jaw Warriors in game three of their second-round series. It was the Broncos first home loss since February 10.
Ty Coupland got the Broncos on the board just over five minutes into the hockey game, energizing the InnovationPlex crowd. Although the Warriors were able to get going for a span of a minute-and-a-half where they scored three times during the middle portion of the frame. Atley Calvert, Lynden Lakovic, and Denton Mateychuk scored for Moose Jaw and they led 3-1 after one period.
However, the Broncos stormed back early in the second as Owen Pickering notched his first of the playoffs just over a minute in, followed by Brady Birnie’s third of the series at the three-minute mark of the period to tie things up again. The Broncos would outshoot the Warriors 12-7 in the second period, but the Warriors restored their lead with less than a minute to go with Mateychuk’s second of the night.
“I liked our resiliency to come back in the second,” said Broncos Interim Head Coach Taras McEwen. “And make a really good push and then just a tough one at the end of the second, but I think we generated enough chances, generated enough Grade A’s in good scoring areas.”
The Broncos pushed in the third, but the only goal in the frame came as Matt Savoie fired one into the empty net to make it 5-3.
Reid Dyck stopped 29 of 33 shots he faced, and the Broncos only had one powerplay in the game, going 0-for-1. The Penalty kill was 2-for-3.
Game four of the series goes on Wednesday night back in Swift Current with Moose Jaw holding a 2-1 series lead. Face-off is at 7:00 p.m. with Redhead Equipment Case IH Broncos Hockey starting at 6:45 on Country 94.1 FM.