Sam McGinley scored 2:57 into overtime to give the Swift Current Broncos (6-7-0-0) their fourth win in a row, 5-4 over the Vancouver Giants (5-7-2-2) Wednesday night.
The game had a quick pace in the early going with a near five-minute stretch without a whistle shortly after puck drop. After the Broncos couldn’t capitalize on their first power play of the night, the Giants opened the scoring on a turnover behind the Swift Current net.
Owen Pickering went to drop the puck off behind the goal, but it was intercepted by Ty Thorpe who wrapped the puck around, through the five hole of Reid Dyck 10:15 into the first period.
The Broncos were able to tie the game up before the period came to an end. Caleb Wyrostok picked up a loose puck and centre and worked it over to Brady Birnie on left wing. After passing the puck, Wyrostok went straight toward the front of the net and took a return feed from Birnie.
Wyrostok took the pass and pulled the puck to his backhand, sliding it past Brett Mirwald with 1:19 left in the first period. The two teams went to the intermission tied at one, with the shots also even at 14.
Vancouver regained their lead just over four minutes into the second period. Ty Halaburda jumped on a rebound off a left-pad save by Dyck, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.
As they’ve done often this season, the Broncos quickly responded to tie the game at two. Josh Davies picked up a loose puck in the slot and ripped it past the glove of Mirwald for his second of the season just 1:41 after Vancouver’s 2-1 goal.
The Giants iced the puck after an extended shift of pressure by the Broncos, forcing a tired group to stay on the ice for even longer. Swift Current took advantage of it as Wyrostok deflected in his second of the night 9:08 into the middle frame to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead.
Despite good chances at both ends, neither team found the back of the net in the second half of the period and the Broncos took the 3-2 lead into the second intermission. Shots were 30-28 Giants after 40 minutes.
Raphael Pelletier scored on a breakaway with the two teams playing four-on-four early in the third period, pushing the Broncos lead to 4-2. The Giants didn’t go away quietly, however.
After Mathew Ward was denied on a shorthanded breakaway, the Giants had a sequence of multiple high-quality scoring chances on the power play but couldn’t solve Reid Dyck to cut into the Broncos lead. In the final seconds of the man advantage, Samuel Honzek fired the puck on goal and Jaden Lipinski knocked in the rebound, cutting the Broncos lead to one with 11:02 remaining.
Honzek then scored a goal of his own by cutting across the crease and outwaiting Dyck to slid the puck into the open net to tie the game with 5:24 remaining.
After the two teams had brief power plays with a four-on-four sequence in-between, Connor Hvidston was denied on a breakaway with just over a minute remaining in regulation, setting the stage for overtime.
Mazden Leslie was called for high sticking 48 seconds into overtime, and while the Broncos couldn’t score on the man advantage, they ended the game shortly after.
Raphael Pelletier had the puck at the left point and spotted McGinley pinching in from the blue line. Pelletier fed him the puck and McGinley skated down the slot before firing a shot past the glove of Mirwald, giving the Broncos the 5-4 win. Reid Dyck made 40 saves for his first win of the season.
The Broncos now prepare to welcome the undefeated Red Deer Rebels (13-0-0-0) Friday night.
Announced attendance was 1,510.