(I wrote summaries for the official website this weekend and am reposting them here. Sorry they were late as I don’t really have any time to write in between the post-game show and the bus.)
Linden Vey scored a natural hat trick to lead Medicine Hat to a 7-2 victory over the Broncos.
Mark Friesen made 19 saves in the first period, but Vey’s 11th of the season with 22 seconds left in the frame gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. They were able to build on that as Vey scored two quick goals in the second period and Tyler Pitlick then extended Medicine Hat’s lead to 4-0.
The Tigers struck for two more from Shinkaruk and Etem early in the third.
Broncos leading scorer Justin Dowling’s highlight reel goal broke Medicine Hat’s shut out attempt. Dowling followed that goal with another on the rebound of a Cody Eakin shot for his 8th of the season.
Medicine Hat wrapped up the scoring with Pitlick’s second of the game.
The Broncos killed off all seven Tigers power plays. Swift Current’s penalty killing unit continues to be one of the best in the WHL.
The Broncos head to Saskatoon on Tuesday to take on the first place Blades. They’ll then host Brandon on Wednesday.
NOTES
…Stepan Novotny left the game after running into the net when trying to stop Vey’s rush on the third goal. No official word on his status as of yet.
…Joel Rogers didn’t see the ice in the third period after returning from the injured list this weekend. He appeared to be struggling to the bench after a shift in the late second period. We’ll see if the speedster is healthy enough to play on Tuesday in Saskatoon.
…Brad Hoban’s 7 game point scoring streak was “officially” ended in the game. I say that in quotations because from my vantage point Hoban should have the 2nd assist on Dowling’s 2nd goal. While we’re reviewing things, it seemed to me there should be assists on Dowling’s 1rst goal as well. Scarlett and Derko both appeared to be in on the play. Hard to tell for sure without the benefit of replay.
…Speaking of that first Dowling goal, it was a spectacular effort. Sometimes he’ll make a play with the puck that just doesn’t seem possible. I’m surprised some of his plays this year haven’t made the WHL’s best of the week.
…The stat line doesn’t look good for Mark Friesen, but that doesn’t mean he had a bad night. Friesen held his team in the game in the first period and made some pretty amazing saves even when the game was out of reach. The Broncos just didn’t give him near enough help on this night.
…Medicine Hat’s top 6 is deep and skilled. Their top 4 on D are very good as well. Lots of speed, skill and grit. They’ll be a tough team for anyone to handle.
…Other than that I don’t have much to say about the game. The coaching staff was really happy with how they played in the 2nd and 3rd periods against Red Deer. Tonight I imagine they weren’t happy with any of the game. It was one of those performances that you just have to put behind you. Those games can happen to any team. Just look in the NHL tonight where the Canucks got hammered 7-1 by Chicago. People consider Vancouver a Cup contender and they got blown out of the water. Sometimes you just don’t have your best game. I’d say that was the case for almost every Bronco tonight.
I’ll have some audio from the games on Monday. For now enjoy the Riders game tomorrow and we’ll get back to hockey early this week. A very busy week with games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. No time to dwell on a bad night.
Shawn Mullin's Swift Current Broncos Blog 