The Swift Current Broncos (15-15-0-1) had four separate one-goal leads against the Lethbridge Hurricanes (20-14-0-1) Friday night, fending off a late push for a 4-3 win on home ice.
Raphael Pelletier got the Broncos off and running with his 11th goal of the season 9:31 into the game. After Mathew Ward won a faceoff in the Broncos zone, Kayden Sadhra-Kang’s clearing attempt hit a stanchion and deflected right to Pelletier at centre, setting up a two-on-one rush.
Pelletier elected to hold and fired a shot from the right circle past the blocker of Harrison Meneghin, putting the Broncos on top.
Lethbridge went to the power play late in the first period and capitalized to tie the game. Cole Shepard’s shot from the left circle was blocked, but then deflected off another player and was slowly sliding toward the goal line.
Tyson Zimmer was able to reach out and jam the puck past the left skate of Reid Dyck, tying the game at one with 42 seconds to go in the period. The two teams went into the intermission tied at one with the shots 17-11 Swift Current.
The Broncos regained their lead near the midway mark of the second period. Sam McGinley chipped the puck ahead on right wing for Caleb Wyrostok and he tried to centre off the rush for Clarke Caswell, but it deflected off Hurricanes defender Chase Pauls and into the net, giving the Broncos a 2-1 lead 8:30 into the second.
Once again, the Hurricanes would pull even, this time off the stick of Shepard as he took a centering feed from the goal line and got a fluttering shot past the blocker of Dyck to tie the game 13:01 into the second.
Swift Current wasted no time getting their lead back, scoring less than two minutes after the 2-2 goal. Ward and Josh Filmon found themselves on another two-on-one rush, this time Filmon kept the puck and beat Meneghin blocker side from the left circle for his team-leading 21st of the season.
The goal came with 5:02 to go in the second and gave the Broncos a 3-2 lead heading into the third period. Luke Mistelbacher nearly added to the Broncos lead shortly after Filmon’s goal, but hit the post after pulling the puck to his backhand in tight.
Swift Current began the third period on the power play but couldn’t capitalize and kept their 3-2 lead. That lasted until a little over the halfway mark of the final frame with Lethbridge pulled even for a third time.
After a shot hit the post on the blocker side of Dyck, it bounced out the other side of the crease and Dyck dove out to his left to deny Miguel Marques on the doorstep. Marques recovered the loose puck behind the net and centred for Tristan Doyle who scored his first of the season with 9:21 remaining in regulation.
Much like the previous time Lethbridge scored, the Broncos quickly regained their lead. Ward won a faceoff in the Hurricanes zone and Grayson Burzynski fired a shot from the left point, beating a screened Meneghin for his second of the year to give the Broncos their fourth lead of the night.
Lethbridge would pull the goaltender for the extra attacker in the final minutes, and pour on the pressure with the six skaters, but the Broncos were able to fend off the late push and hang on for a 4-3 win, their third victory in a row.
The Broncos now look to push their winning streak to four when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers (13-18-4-1) Saturday night for the first of eight head-to-head meetings in the season series. You can catch the game on The Eagle 94.1 FM with Living Sky Casino Broncos Hockey starting with the pre-game show at 6:30pm.