January 17
Swift Current Broncos vs Tri-City Americans
The Swift Current Broncos are on their American road trip right now. They have taken on the Tri-City Americans and the Portland Winterhawks already. In the next few days they plan to match up against Seattle, Everett, and Spokane.
With Skinner in net the first night, Swift Current was off to a great start against Tri-City. Matteo Gennaro opened the scoring for the visiting team from a battle easily won by Aleksi Heponiemi early in the first period. With Swift Current up 1-0, it wasn’t hard for them to find their momentum among the two penalties they took in the first 20 minutes of play. Around four minutes after Gennaro’s goal, Heponiemi would step up and notch a goal of his own. The first period would end 2-0 for the Swift Current team who usually gets worked over by their U.S. counterparts.
With more penalties being handed out to the Broncos in the second frame, they were on the defensive. But they could only hold out for so long until the Americans would get on the board and make it 2-1. It was a feisty game that would prove that the Swift Current Broncos were there to contend.
Starting the final period off with another penalty, Swift Current was on the defensive again as Fyten would head to the box for a kneeing infraction. And the Broncos couldn’t seem to get their momentum back from the first period. Jake Bean would score and tie the game with barely over four minutes left in the game. They headed to overtime. Gennaro netted a goal, but it was immediately called off by the on-ice officials. Aleksi Heponiemi would be the star of the game with the winning goal in overtime.
Glenn Gawdin, Kaden Elder, Colby Sissons, Giorgio Estephan, and Aleksi Heponiemi would all earn assists throughout the game while Gennaro and Heponiemi would get all three goals.
Aaron Piper, of DubNetwork.ca, reviewed the game and you can read all about it here.
January 19
Swift Current Broncos vs Portland Winterhawks
With Matteo Gennaro out of the lineup, the Swift Current Broncos were in Portland to take on the Winterhawks Friday. Gennaro slid into the net on Wednesday night during overtime against the Trip-City Americans which probably left him a little sore. Luckily, the Broncos have a lot of depth up front and could allow others to step up in his absence.
Stuart Skinner started in net and it was a quiet start by both teams. But then Beck Malenstyn threw a big hit and it started the game of cat and mouse between both teams throughout almost every period. Giorgio Estephan opened the scoring for Swift Current and he earned his 300th point on the goal. As well, Aleksi Heponiemi notched an assist and continues his point streak with 26 games. Tanner Nagel made a big hit and it could have gotten ugly, but the referees would not allow it. Portland retaliated with a huge hit on Josh Anderson as the Winterhawks got courageous. In the later part of the period, Portland scored to tie the game. After a bit more pushing and shoving, the period ended.
It was a quiet half a period in the second with a lot of back and forth play. But the Swift Current Broncos would change all that with a tic-tac-toe play by Heponiemi, Elder, and the go-ahead goal by Colby Sissons. The Broncos couldn’t capitalize on their first power play when Glenn Gawdin got slashed. The Winterhawks would tie the game again before the second period buzzer. The score was 2-2 heading into the final period.
Beck Malenstyn showed up again for the Broncos as opened the final 20 minutes with another goal. Tyler Steenbergen would be set up for a great chance on net, but he was robbed of a goal. Gawdin took a high-stick and went down. It’s not often we see the captain slow to get back up, but the Broncos went on the power play, where he would find vengeance with another goal. The Swift Current Broncos were up 4-2 at the end of the game when Portland would pull their goalie with almost four minutes left in regulation to score, bringing the Winterhawks within one goal. Steenbergen would miss an open net, Minulin would make a sliding save in the Broncos zone, and Nagel would final hit that empty net to finalize the game with a 5-3 score.
Estephan, Sissons (2), Malenstyn, and Nagel all earned goals in the game while Anderson and Elder would notch an assist each, Estephan would earn two assists, and Heponiemi, the enigma, ended up with three assists. Skinner ended the game with 31 saves on 34 shots, a 0.912 save percentage, and a 3.00 GAA.
The Broncos will travel to Seattle tomorrow to take on the Thunderbirds. They’ll take on the Everett Silvertips on Sunday and then the Spokane Chiefs on Tuesday.
Brandon Rivers of Dubnetwork has your game recap here.
