Gennaro’s 300th WHL game, one to remember
It was a special game that occurred at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex on Tuesday as Broncos forward Matteo Gennaro was set to play in his 300th career WHL game, albeit against the team where his career began, the Prince Albert Raiders. Gennaro completed a story book ending on this latest chapter as he netted the game winner late in a Broncos 2-1 win.
The first period was littered with penalties on the visiting team as the Raiders took five separate minor penalties but the Broncos oddly enough couldn’t capitalize of any of the five chances they had. Shots on goal were 12-8 Swift Current in a scoreless first period.
Swift Current’s power play did find a crack on Raiders goaltender Ian Scott eventually as New Jersey Devils prospect Colby Sissons scored his seventh of the season via a low wrist shot from the left point.
Cole Fonstad tied it up 26 seconds into the third period as the Raiders jumped on the Broncos defence quickly in the opening moments of the frame. The 17-year-old picked up a rebound from in close and tucked it by Broncos goaltender Logan Flodell.
The final 10 minutes of the third period saw both teams grinding hard, battling for loose pucks and attempting shots on net to keep both the Raiders’ Scott and the Broncos’ Flodell on their toes.
Overtime seemed destined again but not on this night. On what was the final minute of his 300th game, Gennaro got justice on his former team, scoring his 18th and first game winning goal as a Bronco with 21 seconds left on the clock. Gennaro banged it home after a nice passing play through Max Patterson and Sahvan Khaira in Raiders territory.
Logan Flodell was named the game’s first star after yet another solid outing in which the 20-year-old goaltender registered 34 saves to earn his 19th victory of the season.
Shots on goal were 35-29 in favour of Prince Albert. The Broncos power play clicked once on seven opportunities while the penalty was efficient, blanking the Raiders on four separate man advantages.
Swift Current improves to 23-7-2-0 on the year and have won three in a row.
Swift Current gets right back at it on Wednesday night when they host the Kelowna Rockets. Puck drop is at 7:00pm CT.
