Broncos Win Seesaw Battle with Hurricanes
December 30, 2022 — Western Hockey League (WHL) — Swift Current Broncos news release
Fast current, Sask. – The Swift Current Broncos (15-15-0-1) had four separate one-goal leads against the Lethbridge Hurricanes (20-14-0-1) on Friday night, repelling a late push for a 4-3 home win Ice.
Raphael Pelletier put the Broncos in the game with his 11th goal of the season 9:31. After Mathew Ward won a faceoff in the Broncos zone, Kayden Sadhra-Kang’s attempt at clearance hit a support and deflected right to Pelletier at center, setting up a two-for-one onslaught.
Pelletier decided to hold and fired a right circle shot past Harrison Meneghin’s blocker, giving the Broncos the lead.
Lethbridge went on the power play late in the first period and used the game to draw. Cole Shepard’s shot from the left circle was blocked but then deflected off another player and slowly slid towards the goal line.
Tyson Zimmer reached out and slammed the puck past Reid Dyck’s left skate, putting the game at one with 42 seconds left at halftime. The two teams went into the break tied on shots 17-11 Swift Current.
The Broncos regained their lead midway through the second third. Sam McGinley chipped the puck down the right wing for Caleb Wyrostok and he tried to center the onslaught on Clarke Caswell, but he deflected off Hurricanes defenseman Chase Pauls and into the net, giving the Broncos a 2-1 lead with 8: 30 bestowed second.
Once again the Hurricanes would equalize, this time from Shepard’s stick as he took a centering feed from the goal line and scored a fluttering shot past Dyck’s blocker to tie the game 13-01 in the second.
Swift Current wasted no time in regaining the lead, scoring less than two minutes after the 2-2 goal. Ward and Josh Filmon found themselves in another two-on-one rush, this time Filmon kept the puck and hit the Meneghin blocker side from the left circle for his team-leading 21st of the season.
The goal came with 5:02 left in the second period and gave the Broncos a 3-2 lead going into the third period. Luke Mistelbacher nearly gave the Broncos the lead just after Filmon’s goal, but hit the post after pulling the puck hard on his backhand.
Swift Current started the third third on the power play but failed to capitalize and maintained their 3-2 lead. That lasted until just past the halftime mark of the last frame when Lethbridge was level for the third time.
After a shot hit the post on Dyck’s blocker side, it ricocheted off the other side of the crease and Dyck popped out on his left to deny Miguel Marques on the front door. Marques captured the loose puck behind the net and focused on Tristan Doyle, who scored his first goal of the season at 9:21.
Similar to the last 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 and hit a shielded 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 ramp up the pressure with the six skaters, but the Broncos were able to ward off the late push and earn a 4-3 win, their third win in a row.
The Broncos are now looking to extend their winning streak to four when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers (13-18-4-1) to the first of eight head-to-head meetings in the season series tomorrow night.
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