The Swift Current Broncos (4-7-0-0) gave up the game’s first goal against the Victoria Royals (2-10-2-0) on Friday night, but responded with six straight goals in a 6-1 win.
The game had a fast pace to begin as the two teams had a stretch of about five minutes without a whistle. The Royals displayed some impressive speed in the early going, forcing multiple turnovers and eventually opening the scoring.
Tanner Scott intercepted a pass at the Broncos blue line and skated down the right wing before centring for Brayden Schuurman who backhanded a shot past Joey Rocha, giving Victoria a 1-0 lead 10:37 into the game.
Swift Current went to another penalty kill early in the second, but once again scored shorthanded. Josh Filmon picked up a loose puck off a turnover in the neutral zone and came in on a breakaway, beating Logan Cunningham over the shoulder to give the Broncos a 2-1 lead.
The goal seemed to spark the Broncos as they added to their lead in quick succession. Clarke Caswell was sprung on a partial break down the slot by Connor Gabriel, and Caswell went post and in past the glove of Cunningham to make it 3-1. That goal came just 2:44 after Filmon’s marker.
Just over two minutes later, Pelletier scored his second of the night, this one on the power play, blasting a one timer past the blocker of Cunningham from the left circle. The Royals called a timeout following the goal as the Broncos scored three times in 5:12.
Rocha held his ground in the second period, turning aside eight Royals shots as the Broncos led 4-1 after 40 minutes.
Swift Current added two goals just 18 seconds apart in the third, the first when Brady Birnie banked the puck off Cunningham and in following a lengthy shift in the Royals zone. Off a defensive-zone faceoff just moments later, Caleb Wyrostok chipped the puck to centre before springing Josh Davies on a breakaway for his first of the season, making it 6-1 Broncos.
The Royals pushed late trying to cut into the Broncos lead, but Rocha was equal to each test, turning aside nine more shots in the third to finish the game with 21.
The win gave the Broncos back-to-back wins for the first time this season. They look to stretch that to three as they travel up to Prince Albert to face the Raiders (3-8-2-0) Saturday night. You can listen to the game live on the Eagle 94.1 FM with Living Sky Casino Broncos Hockey starting with the pre-game show at 6:30pm.
Announced attendance was 1,908.