Broncos pay the price in loss to Raiders
Undisciplined play on the ice bit the Swift Current Broncos big time as they allowed three power play goals en route to a 5-1 loss to the Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday night.
The first period was all Prince Albert as they scored three times on 11 shots to direct the Broncos to a 3-0 hole.
Justin Nachbaur and Jordy Stallard scored 1:03 apart to make it 2-0 Raiders five minutes into the game. Nachbaur scored from a few feet out from the Broncos crease while Stallard tucked one low on Swift Current goaltender Logan Flodell after teammate Parker Kelly gathered the puck behind the Broncos cage and found Stallard alone in front of the net.
Stallard one-timed in his second of the night from the right faceoff dot when the Broncos were shorthanded four-on-three and that summarized a forgettable first period for Swift Current.
Enter the second period, frustrations continued to mount as the Broncos Sahvan Khaira and the Raiders Austin Crossley traded punches to receive five minute majors for fighting and then Glenn Gawdin took a roughing penalty shortly after. The Broncos penalty kill gave up another power play goal against to Stallard who completed a natural hat trick.
Aleksi Heponiemi got the Broncos on the board courtesy of a good low wrist shot from the right faceoff circle to make it a 4-1 game.
Sean Montgomery tipped in the Raiders third power play goal of the night with five minutes left in the second and the Broncos were staring at a large 5-1 deficit after 40 minutes of play.
Joel Hofer entered the game in relief of Flodell to begin the third period. The Winnipeg, MB native was a bright spot for the Broncos as he stopped all 12 shots he faced in what ended up being a 5-1 final outcome. For Swift Current, this marked their first regulation loss of the season away from home.
Shots on goal were 38-31 in favour of Prince Albert. Swift Current finished the game 1/3 on the man advantage while Prince Albert went 3/6.
Swift Current returns home for a date with the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday night at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex. Puck drop is slated for 7:00pm CT.
