The Swift Current Broncos (13-14-0-0) saw their 3-2 lead disappear in the final minutes of play before the Lethbridge Hurricanes (18-11-0-1) completed their comeback in a 4-3 shootout final.
It was the Broncos annual teddy bear toss night, and Raphael Pelletier wasted no time by scoring the coveted goal just 1:22 into the game. The Hurricanes turned the puck over multiple times in their own zone before Caleb Wyrostok centred for Pelletier who was skating down the right side of the Hurricanes end.
Pelletier had a man heading to the back post, but elected to shoot and beat Harrison Meneghin under the glove for his ninth of the season to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead.
Our 2022 Teddy Bear Toss goal scorer, #15 Raphael Pelletier 🧸. @RaphaelPelleti5 pic.twitter.com/y0xzwLiEFC
— Swift Current Broncos (@SCBroncos) December 11, 2022
Play resumed and the two teams would eventually head into the locker rooms with the same 1-0 score on the board, though the Broncos were given a penalty with just six seconds remaining in the period.
Lethbridge tied the game on that carry-over power play to start the second period. Jett Jones tapped in a backdoor feed just 29 seconds into the period to tie the game.
The teams traded power plays for the next few minutes before Josh Davies was given a five-minute major for boarding and the Hurricanes got a five-minute power play. The Broncos got through three minutes on the penalty kill before Lethbridge took advantage.
Jones sent the puck to the net from the left circle and Tyson Laventure was able to bang in a rebound, giving Lethbridge their first lead of the night 11 minutes into the middle frame.
Swift Current went to the power play late in the period and nearly tied the game. Mathew Ward took a centring pass from the corner and appeared to have a tap in goal, but Meneghin dove over with his blocker arm and denied the Broncos leading scorer as the Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead into the intermission.
The Broncos got three straight power plays to start the third period and capitalized on the first two. First was Ward firing a shot through traffic from the left circle for his 13th of the year at 3:20, then Braeden Lewis picking up a loose puck in front and beating Meneghin over the glove to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead at 6:13.
That lead held until the final minutes of regulation when the Broncos were called for their seventh penalty of the night. The Hurricanes pulled Meneghin for the extra attacker to make it a 6-on-4, and tied the game.
Tyson Zimmer’s shot from the blue line sailed through traffic and hit the cross bar, then went through Gage Alexander’s legs and was dug free by Laventure to fired it into the open net. The goal came with 1:27 left in regulation.
The Hurricanes outshot the Broncos 4-1 in overtime, but Swift Current’s one shot was a breakaway for Ward who was stopped by the right pad of Meneghin.
Neither team scored in overtime as the Broncos went to a shootout for just the second time this season. After Luke Mistelbacher was stopped, defenceman Noah Chadwick scored for the Hurricanes.
Josh Filmon was also denied by Meneghin before Zimmer sealed the win for the Hurricanes by scoring.
The Broncos now turn to their final home game before the Christmas break as the Kelowna Rockets (10-13-2-0) come to Swift Current for the first time in five years on Wednesday.
Announced attendance was 1,813.