Aleksi Heponiemi capped a three-point outing with a third-period game winning goal in a 3-2 Swift Current Broncos win over the visiting Calgary Hitmen Wednesday.
Jakob Stukel scored the opening goal when he beat the Bronco defense wide and outwaited Stuart Skinner for his 35th goal of the season with only 14 seconds left in the first period.
The Broncos tied things up 1:20 into the second period when Tyler Steenbergen tipped home a pass from Aleksi Heponiemi for his 45th goal of the season. Glenn Gawdin added his 56th goal on the power play with 2:19 left in the period on a beautiful cross-ice pass from Heponiemi. Tristen Nielsen tied things up for the Hitmen on the power play with only 2.9 seconds left on the clock.
The Broncos took the lead for good when Heponiemi knocked home a pass from Andrew Fyten early in the their period, his 28th goal of the season.
Stuart Skinner made 26 saves to improve to 29-18-3-1 for the Broncos. Nick Schneider allowed three goals on 37 shots to fall to 18-29-8-2.
The Broncos improved to 47-14-4-2, still one point back of the Moose Jaw Warriors for top spot in the Western Hockey League. Calgary fell to 20-36-8-2.
The Broncos will head out on the road this weekend to visit the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday and the Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday.
