After the success of last night’s game against the Medicine Hat Tigers, it seems Manny Viveiros stuck with mainly the same lineup. Skinner started in net while Glenn Gawdin, Beck Malenstyn, and Andrew Fyten manned the front line. Josh Anderson and Noah King were the first pairing on defence. MacKenzie Wight, Tanner Nagel, and Connor Horning scratches. Quinton Waitzner slots back into the fourth line and Jacson Alexander makes his way back into the third defensive pairing. The success didn’t repeat itself, as the Broncos fell 4-3 to the Tigers at the Canalta Centre.
The first period opened with Fyten taking a checking-from-behind penalty even though the Medicine Hat player had turned into a dangerous position at the last minute. The Tigers would make it 4-on-4 with a too-many-men penalty. No goals would be scored be either team during the penalties. Tyler Steenbergen and Andrew Fyten would both have good chances on the Medicine Hat net, but wouldn’t be able to solve the Tigers goalie, Michael Bullion. Medicine Hat would out skate Swift Current and Ryan Jevne of the Tigers would get the only goal of the period. Swift Current wouldn’t be able to play consistently enough to strike back in the first period. The score was 1-0 for Medicine Hat after 20 minutes.
It was another slow start for Swift Current in the beginning of the second period. The Broncos couldn’t seem to generate any plays early on. But then Gawdin scored after taking the puck down the ice into the Tigers’ zone and using a Medicine Hat player to screen his own goalie. It was a tied game when the plays would return to the Broncos zone and Medicine Hat would put some serious pressure on Swift Current. Stuart Skinner made key saves at just the right time to keep the Broncos in the game. Swift Current was slow during the power play, but the defence worked hard to keep up with the pace of the Tigers. It was a tied game after 40 minutes.
A bad line change by the Tigers led to Aleksi Heponiemi alone in the Medicine Hat zone. He buried the puck to put Swift Current up 2-1 for the first time during the game. Not long afterwards, Artyom Minulin was left alone in the offensive zone to pit another goal for the visitors. With Swift Current leading 3-1, the Tigers began to push back as things got really interesting. With a spinning pass from Rassell, Lockner shrunk the gap and made it a 3-2 game. With about five minutes left in the game, Medicine Hat tied the game 3-3 after mistakes in the Swift Current defensive zone. In the end of regulation, it was Skinner who kept the Broncos alive and forced overtime.
A short-side miss by Skinner would finalize the game 4-3 for the Medicine Hat Tigers. Glenn Gawdin now has 51 goals this season and 111 points. Artyom Minulin added a goal to give him 36 points. Aleksi Heponiemi notched a goal and an assist and now has 103 points.
Traci’s 1 Star – Tyler Steenbergen
Steenbergen earned an assist and five shots on net. But he earns the 1 Star of the game due to his scuffle with Quenneville in the third period. The last thing almost anyone expected to see was two former Team Canada players getting into a roughing debate on the ice after spending time together during the Canada/Russia series earlier in the year.
Because of the loss in Medicine Hat, the Swift Current Broncos are tied with Moose Jaw for top spot in the Eastern Division but the Warriors have games in hand. The Broncos get a bit of a break now and don’t return to home ice until Wednesday, February 21st, when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors. I have a feeling this game will be a good preview of what’s to come in the post-season.
