The Swift Current Broncos got goals from six different skaters to defeat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-3 in front of a sellout crowd of 2,865 fans at the InnovationPlex on Saturday. One night after clinching a playoff spot while sitting idle, the Broncos moved within one point of the division lead with their ninth win in the past 10 games.
The Broncos took the lead in the first period with a power play goal from captain Owen Pickering, his sixth goal of the season.
The Wheat Kings tied the game 1:48 into the second period with a Jayden Wiens goal. They took the lead 38 seconds later with a Matteo Michaels goal on a defensive zone breakdown. The Broncos quickly tied the game with a four-on-four goal from defenseman Ryan McCleary when he picked the top corner for his ninth goal of the season. Josh Filmon quickly restored the lead with a deflection goal, his 26th of the season. Minutes later, the Broncos doubled the lead when Clarke Caswell scored into a gaping net on a perfect two-on-one pass from Luke Mistelbacher.
The Wheat Kings closed the gap with a Caleb Hadland goal in the third period, but Mathew Ward responded with a goal 16 seconds later to restore the two-goal lead, his 17th of the season. Conor Geekie scored into the empty net to seal the win.
Reid Dyck made 15 saves to improve to 22-6-2-0 for the Broncos. Ethan Eskit took the loss with 28 saves to fall to 8-11-1-0.
The Broncos improved to 35-20–4-2, fourth in the Eastern Conference, only one point back of the Medicine Hat Tigers for the Central Division lead with two games in hand. Brandon fell to 30-27-6-1 and remain sixth in the Eastern Conference.
The Broncos will visit the Prince Albert Raiders on Tuesday.
