Swift Current Beats Lethbridge 4-3

LETHBRIDGE - Two power play goals helped the Swift Current Broncos to a 4-3 win over the Hurricanes Saturday night at the ENMAX Centre.

The Hurricanes came out of the gate very strong in this game, but the Broncos would score the opening goal. A knuckle-ball shot from Reece Scarlett beat Canes' goalie Brandon Anderson to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the night. That was just after the Hurricanes had pumped 7 straight shots on the Broncos goal. Less than a minute later Russ Maxwell would move into the Swift Current zone and fire a shot just inside the post to tie the game a 1-1. It was the young Maxwell's 3rd goal of the season. The Broncos though would regain the lead when Killian Hutt tipped in a pass from the side of Lethbridge goal to give the Broncos a 2-1 lead. At that point the Canes' were out shooting the Broncos 13-2, but Swift Current had scored twice on just two shots. That's the way the period would end. The Canes' out shot Swift Current 14-5 and played extremely well in the opening period, but still found themselves trailing 2-1 following 20 minutes of play.

In the second period, the Hurricanes would tie the game. After 75 career WHL games without a goal, Neil Tarnasky finally found the back of the net to even the score 2-2. He also had a couple of very good chances to score back in the first period, but he was denied twice by Friesen. Both teams had some quality chances to take the lead, but both goalies shut the door for the rest of the period and the teams would head to their respective dressing rooms with the game tied at two. The Broncos out shot Lethbridge 8-6 in the period, but the Hurricanes held the edge in shots 20-13 after two period of play.

In the third, Swift Current would regain the one goal lead less than five minutes into the period. Taylor Vause put home a rebound on the power play to give the visitors a 3-2 lead. The Hurricanes though would come back to tie the game for the third time. Mark Reners scored his 6th of the season late in a Lethbridge power play. The game again was tied, this time 3-3. Swift Current would go back on the power play a few minutes later. Adam Lowry cashed in a lose puck with just 4 seconds to go in the man advantage. That gave the Broncos a 4-3 lead. The Canes would try and even the score again, but that would be as close they would get. For the second night in a row, the Broncos beat the Hurricanes, this time a 4-3 final.

The Swift Current power play was the difference in this game. They finished the game 2 for 5 while the Hurricanes went 1 for 3 on the night. The Broncos came to play in the third period and carried the game as they out shot the Canes 18-10. Overall, Swift Current out shot Lethbridge 31-30 on the night. The loss drops the Hurricanes record to the .500 mark at 11-11-1-3 on the season. Lethbridge has just one win in their passed seven games. They now trail the Broncos by four points in the standings. The Canes played well, especially in the first period which was one of their strongest periods in a while, despite being down 2-1 after 20 minutes. In the third period though, Swift Current came out strong, scored twice, and came out victorious. Associate Coach Matt Kabayama said on the CJOC post-game show Saturday: ``We played hard and needed to capitalize on a few more of the chances we had. We were down 2-1 after one and played a very good period and probably deserved a better fate.`` It was nice to see the Hurricanes get some scoring from guys like Russ Maxwell, Tarnasky, and Reners. The coaches rolled all four lines Saturday night.

Next Up

The Hurricanes and Broncos will go at it one more time in the coming days. The two teams will hook up Wednesday night (Dec. 1) back in Swift Current for the third game between these two teams in six nights. Game time is 6:00 pm (MST). The pre-game show on CJOC at 5:30.

Thanks,
Pat

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