Reid Dyck made 19 saves for his first career WHL shutout while Connor Hvidston had a goal and three assists to lead the Swift Current Broncos (24-21-1-2) to a 4-0 win over the Prince Albert Raiders (19-28-3-0) Friday night.
The Broncos went to an early power play when Carter Anderson was called for holding, but couldn’t take advantage as the game remained scoreless.
Five minutes later however, the Broncos would open the scoring. Sam McGinley had a great individual rush through centre ice, chipping the puck to himself along the left-wing boards before heading behind the Raiders net.
McGinley tried to wrap the puck in, but the puck went through the crease and right to the tape of Connor Hvidston who fired it into the open net to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead 10:40 into the game.
Swift Current had another power play late in the period after Clarke Caswell was hooked on a breakaway, but weren’t able to add to their lead as they took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, outshooting the Raiders 11-5.
After withstanding a Raiders push in the second period, the Broncos scored twice in 44 seconds to push their lead to 4-0.
Hvidston cut across the slot in the Prince Albert zone but couldn’t get a clean shot away as the puck slid wide of the net. It ended up on the tape of Brady Birnie who then walked out to the other side of the net and wrapped the puck in for his 12th goal of the season.
On the next shift, Owen Pickering sent the puck to Birnie behind the Raiders net, and with Tikhon Chaika looking over his right shoulder, Birnie fed the puck back to Pickering who fired in his seventh of the season to give Swift Current a 3-0 lead.
The Broncos would carry that lead into the intermission, outshooting Prince Albert 22-14.
Discipline became a factor in the third period as Prince Albert took four minor penalties in the final frame, and the Broncos capitalized on their seventh and final power play of the night.
Hvidston had the puck behind the Raiders net and sent it to the left circle for Clarke Caswell. He quickly tapped it into the high slot and Mathew Ward dropped to a knee for a one timer, scoring his 20th goal of the season to give the Broncos a 4-0 lead with 6:01 remaining.
The Broncos then ran out the clock, keeping the puck away from their net as time ran out and Dyck secured his first career shutout with the win.
Swift Current now looks for the season-series sweep as they head up to the Art Hauser Centre Saturday night for the fourth and final meeting with the Raiders. You can catch the game live on the Eagle 94.1 FM with Living Sky Casino Broncos Hockey starting with the pre-game show at 6:30pm.