Swift Current 7 Brandon 2
It was the Tyler Steenbergen show in this one as the fourth-year Sylvan Lake, AB product lit up the Brandon Wheat Kings tonight in Brandon. Five times Steenbergen hit the scoresheet, posting a career high four goals and adding an assist. His carrier high is still six points though as in a game last season he did that for the Broncos against the Kootenay ICE on January 11, 2016. Alexsi Heponiemi also registered five points on the night; scoring once and adding four assists.
The Broncos opened the scoring at 2:53 on a goal from Colby Sissons. The goals would not stop coming and by 12:53 of the first period it was 5-0 Swift Current Those five goals came from Sissons, Edler, Heponiemi and two from Steenbergen. Starting goaltender Logan Thompson would be pulled at that point after allowing five goals on just 11 shots. Recently acquired from the Victoria Royals goalie, Dylan Myskiw, would come in in relief and provide solid netminding for the duration. He would allow just two goals on the final 16 shots he faced in just over 47 minutes of game action.
In the second period, the Wheat Kings tried to make things interesting as they posted a couple of goals in a span of 2:10. Ryan Bettens scored his second of the season, followed by a power play goal from Stellio Mattheos. It would be Mattheos’ fifth goal of the season. All of the goals were scored with the man advantage.
Tyler Steenbergen would salt the game away with the final two goals in this one. The Broncos finished the game 2-for-6 on the power play while the Wheat Kings would go 1-for-4. Broncos starting goaltender Logan Flodell earned his 50th WHL win on the back of 31 save on 33 shots. The Broncos head to Saskatoon for a match with the Blades on October 6th while the Wheat Kings head to Edmonton to face off against the Oil Kings on the same night.
Prince Albert 4 Medicine Hat 2
Tonight’s tilt from Prince Albert, SK would start out as a back-and-forth affair. Medicine Hat opened the scoring at 14:30 of the first period as Gary Haden scored his second goal of the young season. Cole Fonstad would beat Michael Bullion just over two minutes later to tie the game at one a piece with his first goal of the season.
Early in the second period, Max Gerlach, a vet of three WHL seasons, took a misconduct for a mouthguard violation. The WHL and its teams have agreed that this is something they will continue to call in the season as it is an equipment issue and believed to be helpful in preventing concussions. Lucky for the Tigers, they did not miss his presence and he would actually score the next goal in the game to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead with 4:10 to play in the second period. Again the Raiders responded, this time with just 10 seconds left on the clock in the period. Devon Skoleski scored for the third game in a row, giving him three on the season.
Early in the third period, Parker Kelly scored his third goal of the season, to give the Raiders their first lead of the night. It was one they would not relinquish as Curtis Miske put the puck in the empty net to seal a Raiders win. The win moves the Raiders to 2-2-0-0 on the season and drops the Tigers to the same record. Goaltender Curtis Meger earned his second WHL victory. The Tigers went 1-for-5 on the power play and the Raiders went 0-for-5. The next action for the Tigers is October 6th when they host the Regina Pats and the Raiders will travel to Lethbridge to take on the Hurricanes on October 5th.
