Miracle at the i-Plex – Estephan’s OT winner caps crazy Broncos comeback over Silvertips

Giorgio Estephan, centre, celebrates his overtime winner for the Broncos.

    SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – It might not be enough to pound a stake through their heart or shoot them with a silver bullet to do in the Swift Current Broncos.

    On Saturday night in Game 2 of the WHL Championship series, the host Broncos fell behind 3-0 in the first period to the visiting Everett Silvertips.
    The Broncos scored once in the second to pull within 3-1 and dodged bullets at the end of that frame and early in the third to remain two goals back on the scoreboard.

    The Broncos scored twice in the third with star right-winger Tyler Steenbergen potting the equalizer to force a 3-3 tie with 1:37 to play in the frame and netminder Stuart Skinner pulled for an extra attacker.

Netminder Carter Hart got over anxious with the puck resulting in a loss.

    At the 9:27 mark of overtime, the Broncos charged into the Everett zone on a rush. Silvertips netminder Carter Hart stopped a shot from Broncos centre Matteo Gennaro, and during the frantic action, Hart quickly cleared the puck up ice only to put it on the stick of Broncos forward Giorgio Estephan.

    Before Hart could react to what he did, Estephan fired home his 12th goal of the post-season to give the Broncos an improbable 4-3 victory and send a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex into a raucous frenzy.

    “I was just kind of lucky the puck rolled to me, and I got to put it home,” said Estephan. “It is definitely one that I would say we were pretty fortunate to be able to get that goal and this win.

Tyler Steenbergen (#17) celebrates his third period equalizer.

    “Skins (Skinner) kept us in the game, and that is all from him. I think we are just more of a team that is resilient. We definitely battled for that tough one tonight.

    “Everyone played a great part in that game.”

    Estephan’s goal helped the Broncos tie the best-of-seven series 1-1. Game 3 is set for 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Wash.

    The win by the Broncos marked the first time the Silvertips had lost on the road in the 2018 post-season having won their previous eight road games.

    The Silvertips built their 3-0 lead in the first period with singles coming from the sticks of Matt Fonteyne, Martin Fasko-Rudas and Riley Sutter. Fasko-Rudas’s goal was a tough one for the Broncos side to take, because the Skinner got a piece of the puck with his glove only for it to go into his net.

    Everett had a 17-10 edge in shots on goal after the opening 20 minutes.

Matteo Gennaro had the first goal in the Broncos comeback.

    With the Silvertips hosting Games 3, 4 and 5 of the series, Steenbergen said his side did not want to go to Everett dropping the first two games of the best of seven set.

    “Going into the second and third, we just thought that there was no way that we were going to let this one slip,” said Steenbergen. “I think our mindset in the room we were all positive.

    “We weren’t getting on each other. Moving forward from the first period, I think that we just had the mindset that we weren’t going to lose this game, and we couldn’t lose this game.

    “It was one of those must-win feelings for us. It felt like a Game 7.”

    Matteo Gennaro scored for the Broncos at the 8:17 mark of the second period to cut the Silvertips lead to 3-1.

Captain Matt Fonteyne had the Silvertips first goal of the night.

    Inside of the final minute of the second, Skinner stoned Fonteyne on a tough screen shot, and after the Broncos went on a power play, Skinner turned away Silvertips left-winger Connor Dewar on a short-handed breakaway.

    Early in the third after the Broncos power play expired, the Silvertips had two big chances to score on a rush. Everett centre Riley Sutter was stop on drive to the Broncos goal and the rebound of his shot went to Dewar as a net scramble ensued.
    The product of The Pas, Man., was denied on a paddle stop by a diving Skinner.

    “Skinner is playing very well,” said Fonteyne. “He was the WHL goalie of the month (in April) for a reason.

    “He is going to make big saves. I think we just need to keep throwing the puck on net and keep going. We can’t get too hung up on a good player making good plays.”

Colby Sissons scored for the Broncos in the third period.

    At the 6:22 mark of the third, Broncos offensive defenceman Colby Sissons fired home a shot from the point to cut the Silvertips edge to 3-2.

    That set the stage for the dramatics with Steenbergen’s equalizer and Estephan’s winner.

    Before Estephan could score his winner, Skinner turned away Silvertips Centre Riley Sutter on a powerful rush to the net and stoned right-winger Garrett Pilon on a slot drive.

    When the dust settled, Skinner turned away 40 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos. Hart stopped 34 shots to take the setback in net for the Silvertips.

    “We put ourselves in an opportunity to obviously win it in regulation,” said Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams, who club finished third overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 47-20-2-3 record. “Credit to Swift Current for playing the way they have all season, and they kept coming at us.

Connor Dewar (#43) was snakebitten around the net for the Silvertips.

    “When we went into overtime, it was as simple as it will take one shot. We’re in a good spot I told them. Obviously, we are trying to continue to stay positive throughout it.

    “It was a bit of a stinger there for our group, but again, it is something that we can definitely look at and learn from and comeback with a better effort on Tuesday.”

    Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros was pleased to see the resilience of his club.

    “I thought Everett played very well again tonight,” said Viveiros, whose club finished second overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-17-5-2 mark. “They could have easily won that game.

    “There was no question we were fortunate, but we were also very happy with the way we responded and came back and battled. That is something we have been doing all season long and all playoff long.

Broncos fans cheer their team’s OT winning goal.

    “You have to be able to believe, and I am very proud of the kids.”

    Estephan’s goal on Saturday was his second overtime winner scored at home in the playoffs, and the overager from Edmonton, Alta., admits it feels special to be part of his team’s long post-season run.

    “I’m just thrilled to be a part of it and be in the city,” said Estephan. “Their energy the last few games towards our team and towards us winning, it has been great.

    “I think it makes any player love to come to the rink every day and any player love to play in front of their fans. That is kind of more where it comes from for me for sure.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Silvertips slip past Broncos 2-1 in WHL title series opener

The Silvertips celebrate a game winning goal from Connor Dewar, centre.

    SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. - The slimmest of margins made the difference in the opening game of the WHL Championship series.

    With his Everett Silvertips locked in a 1-1 tie with the host Swift Current Broncos, Silvertips left-winger Connor Dewar tipped home a point shot from Czech import defenceman Ondrej Vala at the 1:49 mark of the third period to put the visitors up 2-1. 

    Everett proceeded to shut things down defensively for most of the remainder of the frame to take the opening game of the WHL title series by that one-goal margin before a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators on Friday night at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.

    The win marked the first time the Silvertips have earned a victory in the WHL Championship series. They made their only other appearance in the WHL title series during their inaugural campaign and were swept away in the best-of-seven set 4-0 by the Medicine Hat Tigers in May of 2004.

Connor Dewar scored the winning goal for the Silvertips on Friday.

    Following Friday’s tilt, no one on Everett’s side were thinking of any milestones. Dewar just wanted his third period tally could hold up to be the decisive marker.

    “I was just hoping it would hold up and be a winning goal by the end of the game,” said Dewar. “I think it helped us get going.

    “We had a couple of more good shots after that where it didn’t go in. We just tried to minimize their chances by maximizing ours.”

    The Broncos are making their first appearance in the WHL Final since they last won the league title back in 1993. The opening result was a heartbreaker for the host side.

    Veteran 19-year-old netminder Stuart Skinner had a strong outing making 23 saves in the Swift Current goal. He just couldn’t react to the change of direction of the puck on Dewar’s tipped home goal.

Goalie Stuart Skinner makes one of his 23 saves in goal for the Broncos.

    “It was kind of just a bad bounce I think,” said Skinner. “They just shot it, and it was going up pretty high.

    “It was a high tip. If he was closer to the net, it would have been a high stick. I saw it going up, so I tried to get my body in front of it.

    “He tipped it, and it went down. It was kind of a tough one for me.”

    The Broncos hit the ice for Friday’s encounter behind a raucous crowd that often drowned out the building’s public address announcer.
    The Silvertips quieted the host team’s supporters with a power-play goal at the 14:43 mark of the opening frame, when star overage right-winger Patrick Bajkov took the puck at the left side of the Broncos net, skated across the face of the goal and tucked home the puck behind Skinner.

Aleksi Heponiemi scored for the Broncos in the second period.

    The Swift Current faithful got re-energized at the 11:26 mark of the second, when Finnish import left-winger Aleksi Heponiemi tipped home a mid-range shot from centre Matteo Gennaro to tie things up at 1-1. The goal came on the Broncos’ 24^th shot on goal.

    After Everett went ahead 2-1, the Broncos didn’t really have a quality chance to net the equalizer until late in the third. Swift Current forced a turnover in the Silvertips zone, and Gennaro found himself alone in front of the Everett goal. He tried to roof a shot top corner only to be robbed by the glove hand of Silvertips star netminder Carter Hart.

    Hart made 34 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips, who are 8-0 on the road in this year’s post-season. Star right-winger Garrett Pilon had assists on both Everett goals.

    “I thought we did a really good job being in the first game here on the road in this building that is really tough to play in,” said Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams. “We got a great power-play goal to start us off.

The Broncos fans cheer a goal from Aleksi Heponiemi.

    “We came into the second, and I probably thought the ice tilted there in favour of Swift Current. What I was really proud of was our response in the third. We started playing the way we should play.”

    Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros said the tight encounter he expected materialized.

    “Everett did a real good job today here making it real difficult for us to get to their net front area,” said Viveiros. “They defended very well.

    “I thought both teams played very well tonight. I thought the goaltenders were very, very good for both teams. They (the Silvertips) were everything that comes as advertised tonight.

Patrick Bajkov scored the Silvertips first goal on Friday.

    “They are a team that battles real hard for loose pucks, especially in their zone, along the walls and especially in front of their net. We have to do a better job tomorrow as far as getting to the net a lot more and making sure we get our shots through to the net. I was very happy with our effort.”

    Heponiemi thought his Broncos could do a better job of getting pucks to the net.

    “They were blocking shots, and that is part of playoffs,” said Heponiemi. “We just have to play like real quick and just get pucks through.”

    Hart was pleased with how his Silvertips teammates played in front of him.

    “I felt really good in the net,” said Hart. “We did a really good job of limiting their chances to the outside.

    “We did a really good job the whole game of our D-zone coverage. I got a lot of key (shot) blocks during the year. Guys were just laying their bodies on the line to get the blocks.”

Silvertips goalie Carter Hart (#70) holds off the Broncos traffic.

    The 19-year-old, who backstopped Canada to a gold medal victory at the last World Juniors, gave praise to the Broncos fans for the support they showed their team.

    “It is good to see the support that Swift Current is getting here,” said Hart. “It is one of the smaller markets in the CHL, so it is really cool to see all the people come out and support their team and how passionate they are.

    “I think it energizes both teams. It is fun to play in these environments and play in these kind of games. Seeing how many people were here during warmups and how important it is to this city, it is cool.”

The Silvertips celebrate their Game 1 victory over the Broncos.

    Game 2 of the best-of-seven WHL title series is slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. local time at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.