Broncos down Tigers in crucial Central Division clash
The Swift Current Broncos beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 8-4 Friday night in the CHL Game of the Week in a crucial Central Division contest.
With the victory, the Broncos extended its divisional lead over the Tigers to three points while their 37 wins are their most in a season since their championship campaign in 2017-18.
Luke Mistelbacher, Tyson Galloway, Owen Pickering (PIT), Brady Birnie, Ryan Gould, Clarke Caswell, Ty Coupland and Ryan McCleary all scored for Swift Current while Reid Dyck (BOS) stopped 31 shots for his 24th win of the season. Tomas Mrsic had a pair of goals for Medicine Hat while Kadon McCann and Rhett Parsons also scored.
Mrsic had given Medicine Hat, who played with just three forward lines with an eye on the upcoming WHL playoffs, a 1-0 lead 3:28 into the game with his 22nd of the year before Swift Current hit back with a trio of goals. Mistelbacher scored his 20th of the season at 12:12 on the power play while 45 seconds later Galloway’s fifth of the campaign gave the Broncos their first lead of the evening. Pickering pushed the lead to 3-1 with just 31.6 seconds left in the period as he finished off a pretty passing play.
#LetsGoPens prospect Owen Pickering finishes off a lovely @SCBroncos sequence! #CHLGOTW pic.twitter.com/KEv3rIqIk7
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) March 16, 2024
Birnie made it 4-1 2:41 into the second as he negated an icing call before finishing out-front before Mrsic’s second of the evening cut the Swift Current lead in half at 10:15. Gould’s 19th of the season made it 5-2 Broncos after 40 minutes.
Another 2024 NHL Draft prospect found the scoreboard 7:52 into the third as Caswell recorded his 100th WHL point courtesy of his 22nd goal while Coupland made it 7-2 at 11:24.
That's 💯 career points for Clarke Caswell! 👏🏻#CHLGOTW | @SCBroncos pic.twitter.com/BDiRWHi6Gv
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) March 16, 2024
McCann pulled one back for Medicine Hat with eight minutes to play before McCleary’s shorthanded goal restored the five-goal advantage at 16:01. Parsons rounded out the scoring just 21 seconds later as Swift Current recorded a fourth straight win.
