Broncos silence Raiders 4-0
It was Guaranteed Win Night at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert on Friday night and the Swift Current Broncos made sure to wreck that party as they silenced the Raiders by a 4-0 score.
The Broncos came out in waves to start the game, generating scoring chance upon scoring chance but Raiders goaltender Ian Scott was up to the task with some big saves early on.
Glenn Gawdin found the back of the net for his 33rd of the season at the 8:03 mark. The captain made a nice move near the Raiders cage to bang it home while Tyler Steenbergen gathered the lone assist in his first game back since playing for Team Canada at the 2018 World Juniors.
44 seconds later, Kaden Elder and Aleksi Heponiemi executed a well established give-and-go play with Elder capping it off to make it 2-0 Broncos. Shots on goal were 12-6 for Swift Current in a terrific first period.
The second period was all about newly acquired goaltender Stuart Skinner as he turned aside 11 Raiders shots, including a couple big saves to keep the Broncos two-goal margin.
Colby Sissons recovered a pass from Artyom Minulin off his skate to his stick blade and in one motion, fired a hard wrist shot far side by Scott in what was a marvelous play. It was 3-0 Broncos through 40 minutes despite being outshot 11-5 in the frame.
The Broncos continued to get strong goaltending play from Skinner and the defence in front of him were effective in continuing to block shots and win puck battles to control the third period. The 6’4, 200 lb Skinner denied the Raiders Cole Fonstad on a breakaway opportunity as well.
Gawdin buried an empty netter unassisted to sign, seal and deliver Swift Current a big 4-0 shutout win.
Shots on goal were 29-25 in favour of Prince Albert. The Broncos power play went 0/2 while the Raiders special teams finished 0/4.
Swift Current returns home for a Saturday night tilt against the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex. A special pre-game ceremony will take place involving the three Broncos that took part in the 2018 World Juniors Championship. Puck drop is at 7:00pm CT.
