The Swift Current Broncos (11-11-0-0) certainly earned their two points on Saturday night, fending off the Edmonton Oil Kings (4-20-1-0) who tied the game on three separate occasions, before pulling away with a 5-3 victory.
The first goal of the night didn’t come until the final minute of the first period. Caleb Wyrostok gained the Edmonton line on left wing before firing a hard wrist shot from the left circle, beating Ronin Geraghty blocker side with his seventh of the year. Brady Birnie and Owen Pickering gathered assists on the goal.
The Broncos took the 1-0 lead into the intermission, outshooting Edmonton 11-6.
The Oil Kings tied the game up early in the third period. Carson Golder was skating behind the Bronco net and sent a no-look pass to the slot, catching Gage Alexander looking the other way as Rhett Melnyk slid the puck into the open net to tie the game at one.
It didn’t take long for the Broncos to regain their lead, and after scoring three shorthanded goals on Friday, the Broncos went back on the attack while down a man. After some strong forechecking to maintain control of the puck in the Oil Kings zone, it eventually came to Sam McGinley in the right circle and he beat Geraghty blocker side to make it 2-1 Swift Current.
Shortly after the goal, Edmonton went back on the attack and didn’t allow the Broncos to clear the zone on numerous occasions before tying the game again. Luke Robson found a loose puck in the slot and fired it past the blocker of Alexander for his first WHL goal, tying the game at two 8:06 into the second period.
While the two teams exchanged chances for the remainder of the period, they went into the intermission even at two with the shots reading 20-14 Broncos.
Near the halfway mark of the third period Swift Current took the lead for the third time. Mathew Ward spotted Luke Mistelbacher cruising down the slot of the Edmonton zone and fed him the puck. Mistelbacher fired a shot past Geraghty for his third goal of the season, putting the Broncos on top 3-2 with 10:50 to go in regulation.
Swift Current was called for too many men two minutes after the goal, sending the Oil Kings to their fifth power play of the night. On the man advantage, Marshall Finnie was able to sneak a puck past Alexander on the goal line, once again tying the game with 7:49 to go in regulation.
Undeterred by the goal, the Broncos went back the other way and regained the lead less than a minute later. Mistelbacher took a pass from Clarke Caswell near the goal line before sliding it across the crease to Josh Filmon, who was all alone at the other side of the net, and Filmon fired in his 12th of the year to give the Broncos a 4-3 lead.
Five minutes later the Broncos finally got the elusive two-goal lead. Josh Davies tired to power his way to the crease from the goal line and was stopped by Geraghty, but Mathew Ward quickly pounced on the rebound to make it 5-3 with just under two minutes to go in the game.
That was all the Broncos needed and they completed the weekend sweep with the 5-3 win.
The Broncos are now off until next weekend when they travel to Manitoba, beginning the trip on Friday against the Winnipeg ICE (22-3-0-0).
Announced attendance was 1,742.