The Swift Current Broncos earned a point in what was a wild matchup in the Central Division on Friday night at InnovationPlex.
The Broncos ultimately fell 8-7 in overtime in the contest that saw the Broncos hold three different three-goal leads.
Jace McFaul, Rylan Gould, and Brady Birnie all scored before eight minutes had elapsed in the first period, and the Broncos seemed to be off to the races. However, Gavin McKenna would make it 3-1 before a short-handed Josh Filmon goal made it 4-1 to end the first period.
The Tigers seemed to flip the switch in the second period as two Andrew Basha goals – one shorthanded and one on the powerplay – brought the Tigers back to within a goal. Tyler MacKenzie would get things tied for the first time in the hockey game a bit later before the Broncos took the lead once more.
Connor Hvidston scored twice and Gould earned his second of the night to make it 7-4 early in the third, but things would go downhill from there as the Tigers outshot the Broncos 22-3 in the third period. McKenna and Shane Smith scored on the powerplay, and Josh van Mulligen scored the tying goal before overtime took place.
The Broncos were behind the eight ball in overtime as they had about 90 seconds of a five-on-three to kill off as Peyton Kettles and Zach Turner served penalties for the Broncos.
Swift Current got 1:27 into overtime before McKenna’s hat-trick goal ended the hockey game, giving the Tigers the extra point.
While the Broncos earned a point with the overtime loss, Head Coach Devan Praught said there were still lots of positives.
“We scored seven goals, we had leads, we had a great first period, we played the way we needed to play,” Praught said. “We had a moment on the bench where things kind of got off the rails and we put it back on the rails in the second period. It’s just unfortunate for our group, I thought we deserved better for the most part of the game. I guess in the end you get what you deserve, and you take that many penalties and deviate from the gameplan, there’s a lesson to be learned.”
Swift Current took was shorthanded 10 times in the game, only killing six of them, and they were outshot 47-20.
Gould, and Filmon each earned three points in the game, while Mat Ward, Birnie, and Luke Mistelbacher each had two points.