The Monday afternoon game at the Regina “Hubble” pitted the winless Swift Current Broncos facing the powerhouse Prince Albert Raiders.
The young Broncos club came into the game with an 0-5-0-0 record on the season. Coming off a 5-1 loss at the hands of the Moose Jaw Warriors, the Broncos were looking to get back on track.
The Raiders had a 2-1-1-1 record so far in Regina, they are coming off an overtime loss at the hands of the Winnipeg ICE.
Due to injuries, the Broncos dressed just four defensemen for the contest. The hard skating Raiders definitely put the defense to the test. Prince Albert is also dealing with an injury situation where captain Kaiden Guhle is listed as being out indefinitely.
The young Broncos gave the Raiders everything they could handle. Rookies scored four of five Bronco goals in a 5-2 victory, giving them their first win on the season.
First period
The Broncos came out skating hard and showed some life early on. Prince Albert took a minor penalty 3:42 into the period. Just 34 seconds later, Raphael Pelletier connected on the powerplay, scoring on a nice cross-ice pass from Owen Williams. Matthew Ward picked up the second assist. The Broncos scored on just their fourth shot on goal.
Less than three minutes later, first-round NHL pick Ozzy Wiesblatt tied the game at 1-1. On a great individual play, he toe dragged past the Bronco defenseman and beat Reid Dyck glove side. The Raiders were back in the contest.
The pesky, hardworking Broncos regained the lead just over halfway through the period. Caleb Wyrostok chipped a cross-crease pass from Bode Hagen past Max Paddock to give the Broncos a 2-1 lead.
Swift Current held a 13-9 shots advantage in a 2-1 lead after the first period.
Second period
The young battling Broncos kept up the pace early. A little over two minutes into the second period Ward sent a pass to Devin Aubin who scored his first career goal. His wrist shot from the slot that went off Paddock’s catching glove and by the Raider goalkeeper to give them a 3-1 lead.
Fatigue looked as though it was starting to catch up with the Broncos defensemen. The Raiders started taking over the play when the Broncos took a minor penalty halfway through the period.
Swift Current killed that infraction and it seemed to energize them again.
With less than three minutes left in the period, Wiesblatt took exception to a hit and ended up with an extra minor.
The Broncos failed to click on the powerplay but just as the penalty expired the Broncos did strike again. Carter Stebbings scored his first career marker when he tipped a back pass from Cole Nagy past a down-and-out Paddock.
The Broncos had a three-goal lead heading into the final twenty minutes. Prince Albert led the second-period shot clock 11-9.
Third period
Raiders’ Justin Nachbaur flexed his muscle ripping a wrist shot past the Bronco goalie just 1:05 into the third. His wrister from the circle beat Dyck blocker side to get Prince Albert back to within a pair at 4-2.
The Raiders ran into penalty issues and the Broncos capitalized. With less than eight minutes left Stebbings scored his second as he one-timed a Cole Nagy past Paddock for a powerplay marker giving the Broncos a 5-2 lead.
That’s all they would need as they hung on to the 5-2 win.
Extra bits
It was a game of firsts for the Broncos. Aubin and Stebbings scored their first WHL goals. Dyck picked up his first WHL win. 2020 first-round Bantam pick Brady Birnie played in his first career game.
The Broncos swept the three-star selections. Stebbings was picked as first, Ward as second, and Dyck was named third. In the end, the Raiders outshot the Broncos by a tune of 30-28. The Broncos connected twice on six powerplays while killing both of their minors.
Raiders’ next action is Thursday against the Pats while the Broncos’ next action is Wednesday against the Blades.
