WHL playoffs at its best – Pats stay alive in electric affair

Robbie Holmes (#32) shows his excitement after a goal from Connor Hobbs.

    REGINA – If you live in Regina and weren’t at the Brandt Centre on Friday night, you missed out.

    In one of the best playoff major junior playoff battles you might see anywhere, the host Regina Pats outlasted the visiting Swift Current Broncos 3-2 before a sellout crowd of 6,484 energetic spectators.     

    The win allowed the Pats to stay alive in the best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the two clubs cutting the Broncos edge in that department 3-2.

    The Broncos will try to close things out again on Saturday when the series switches back to Swift Current for a 7 p.m. start at the Credit Union i-Plex. The way things played out on Friday in Regina, the Broncos could have been heading home with a series win, if they were able to make just a couple of more plays.

Connor Hobbs controls the puck on the point for the Pats.

    Friday’s battle at the Brandt Centre was a raucous one. While the large majority of the rink were cheering for the host Pats, the Broncos arrived in the Saskatchewan capital with a healthy contingent of supporters that made a lot of noise.

    The action before the Pats 19^th sellout crowd of the 2016-17 campaign on the ice was a seesaw battle that was filled with a number of story lines. The Pats, who were rated first in the final Canadian Hockey League rankings that were released on March 22, stormed out of the gate getting the first eight shots on goal.

    The Broncos didn’t get their first shot on net until the 7:10 mark of the opening frame, when Pats netminder Tyler Brown turned away Broncos winger Lane Pederson from the slot.

Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin scored a power-play goal in the third period.

    Momentum turned in the second half of the opening 20 minutes when the Pats paraded to the penalty box on a trio of minor infractions. On the third of those chances, Broncos defenceman Colby Sissons blasted home a shot from the point to give the visitors a 1-0 edge with 2:44 to play in the first. You could feel a hush fall over the Regina faithful, when that tally went in.

    The hosts came back to life on a power-play opportunity late in the frame, and Pats star centre Sam Steel snipped the equalizer through a screen with 13.5 seconds remaining in the opening 20 minutes.

    Early in the second, the Pats jumped ahead 3-1 scoring a pair of goals 38 seconds apart from each other. First, Pats star defenceman Connor Hobbs scored to give the hosts a 2-1 edge putting a puck home during a net scramble in front of the Swift Current goal.

Tyler Brown makes one of his 30 saves for the Pats.

    After that marker, the Pats went up 3-1 scoring a more finesse goal as Steel found linemate Nick Henry on a backdoor feed on a rush, and Henry made no mistake scoring into an empty cage.

    The Broncos had a big chance to cut the gap at the 8:52 mark of the third, when Pats winger Austin Wagner was given a major penalty for a knee-on-knee hit to Broncos overage centre Ryley Lindgren.     The infraction will trigger an automatic review by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

    Pats fans loudly showed their displeasure at the call during the ensuing Broncos power play. A few booed Lindgren, who remained in the game, every time he touched the puck.

    Near the end of that power-play chance, Swift Current pulled to within 3-2, when Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin tipped home a shot from the wall by star winger Tyler Steenbergen.

    In the final 90 seconds, the Broncos pulled netminder Jordan Papirny for the extra attacker, had pressure in the Regina zone, but couldn’t generate a solid scoring chance.

    Brown made 30 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Pats. Papirny turned away 33 shots including a third period penalty shot by Pats centre Braydon Buziak to take the loss in the Broncos net.

    The injury front also provided some dramatics also on Friday night. On the Swift Current side, Pederson left the contest in the first period with an injury and did not return.

Pats captain Adam Brooks dressed but didn’t play Friday.

    Pats import winger Filip Ahl returned to the lineup after missing three games undergoing tests for the mumps. 

    Pats captain Adam Brooks dressed for the first time after taking a knee-on-knee hit in his team’s Game 2 win over the Broncos. 

    He was pretty much pinned to the Regina bench and opened the gate occasionally for his teammates.

    Whether Brooks or Pederson plays in Game 6 on Saturday remains to be seen.

    With that said, Game 5 in Regina was a barnburner. Both sides look like they are far from finished in this set.

    Now see what the next chapter will look like in less than 24 hours, because it appears anything can happen.

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

Broncos buck off Blades

Saskatoon’s hold on WHL playoff spot slips

Broncos goalie Taz Burman holds off Blades winger Josh Paterson.

    An early lead by the Saskatoon Blades wasn’t enough to make the Swift Current Broncos top forwards go away.

    On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the host Blades, who are in a heated race for a WHL playoff spot, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period before the Broncos big guns got going. Swift Current scored twice in the second period and twice early in the third to go up 4-2.

    The Blades cut the gap to 4-3, but the Broncos sealed a 5-3 final with an insurance goal coming on the power play.

    In the Broncos rally, star winger Tyler Steenbergen scored twice to sit with 49 goals on the season. Standout forwards Aleksi Heponiemi and Lane Pederson each had singles.

    The Swift Current tally that hurt Saskatoon the most likely came from the Broncos third line.

Tyler Steenbergen celebrates his first of two goals.

    With the teams locked in a 2-2 draw early in the third, winger Arthur Miller blew down the wall on the left wing and slipped a beauty pass for centre Conner Chaulk in the slot. Chaulk blew home his eighth goal of the season to put the visitors ahead 3-2.

    “I thought we were OK going into the third,” said Blades head coach Dean Brockman. “We got walked down the wall, and they scored that one. It just kind of seemed to deflate us.

    “We are full of emotion right now, and we are in a playoff hunt. When something like that happens, you have to make sure you don’t get too low, and I think we got too low there.”

    The Blades fell to 27-32-7-2 and saw their lead in the standings for eighth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and hold on the conference’s second wildcard playoff berth slip to one point. The Calgary Hitmen, who sit ninth in the Eastern Conference, pulled out a 4-3 upset victory at home over the Lethbridge Hurricanes to improve to 26-31-8-2 to pull within a point of the Blades with a game in hand.

Braylon Shmyr scored twice for the Blades.

    In Friday’s loss, the Blades went up 2-0 in the first, when 19-year-old winger Braylon Shmyr scored twice to delight most of the 4,285 spectators in attendance.

    The Broncos slowly worked their way to an even score in the second. Heponiemi, who is an import from Finland, scored close in at the 12:37 mark of the second to cut Saskatoon’s lead to 2-1. With 2:33 to play in the frame and the Broncos working on the power play, Steenbergen converted backdoor feed to force a 2-2 tie.

    “Getting that goal was pretty nice,” said Steenbergen. “It lifted our spirits a bit to tie the game there. It gave us momentum going into the third.”

    After Chaulk put the Broncos up 3-2, Steenbergen added his second of the contest at the 7:47 mark of the third to put the visitors up 4-2.

    With 10:12 to play, Blades rearguard Evan Fiala, who is known for being a defensive defenceman, scored on a great individual effort cutting across the front of the Swift Current goal and lifting home the rebound of his first shot to cut Swift Current’s lead to 4-3.

    While Fiala’s goal created a lot of excitement for the locals, Pederson took the air out of the SaskTel Centre crowd scoring on the power play with 5:39 to play in the third to round out the 5-3 final in favour of the visitors.

Evan Fiala scored a finesse goal for the Blades.

    The Broncos improved to 36-21-4-6 and lock up at least a third place finish in the WHL’s East Division and a best-of-seven first round playoff series with the Moose Jaw Warriors.

    Steenbergen said his Broncos have confidence in their ability to comeback in games.

    “We’ve been down goals a couple of times this year,” said Steenbergen. “We’ve came back from them. We know we can do it.

    “We got pretty positive in that first intermission. We came out with a little fire under our butts. We’re happy to get the win and clinch that third place spot for sure.”

    Brock Hamm made 23 stops to take the loss in goal for the Blades. Taz Burman turned away 33 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos.

    The Blades and Broncos will go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Credit Union i-plex in Swift Current.

    Brockman said it is challenging to defend against Steenbergen and Heponiemi.

    “Certainly, you have to be aware of them,” said Brockman. “They are both very dangerous guys.

    “They might be two of the best players in the league. We will just battle away.

Aleksi Heponiemi celebrates scoring for the Broncos.

    “We just have to chip away at them one shift at a time. We have to win a game on the road here.”

Going forward, Steenbergen admits the chance to score his 50^th goal of the season is on his mind, and he doesn’t want it to be a distraction.

    “It would be nice to get it out of the way,” said Steenbergen. “I am going to try and not think about it too much.

    “It is there. If I get it, I will be really excited.”

    NOTES – Blades forward Kirby Dach, who was selected by Saskatoon second overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, left Friday’s game with an undisclosed injury. His status is uncertain for Saturday’s game. Broncos overage goalie Jordan Papirny didn’t dress for Friday’s contest due to illness.

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

Broncos’ Steenbergen crushes Raiders hopes of victory

Winger’s 47^th goal in final minute lifts Swift Current past P.A.

Raiders G Nicholas Sanders shuts the door on Broncos C Lane Pederson.

    PRINCE ALBERT - Tyler Steenbergen’s 47^th goal of the season drove a dagger into a spirited effort by the Prince Albert Raiders.

    Entering play on Tuesday, the Raiders, who have one of the younger rosters in the WHL, sat second last in the league, but they have been on an upswing posting a 10-7-2 record in their previous 19 games. Steenbergen’s Swift Current Broncos had a playoff spot already locked up and were looking to solidify their positioning in the standings.

    In a tightly contest affair at the Art Hauser Centre, the Broncos and Raiders entered the final minute of the third period locked in a 2-2 draw. At that point, Steenbergen broke into the Prince Albert zone and ripped home the winning goal for the visitors top corner glove side on Raiders netminder Ian Scott with 57.9 seconds to play in the frame.

Tyler Steenbergen potted the winning goal for the Broncos.

    Overage winger Ryley Lindgren added an empty-net tally with 17.5 seconds to play to cement a 4-2 win for the Broncos before an announced crowd of 1,886 spectators.

    While the Raiders won’t be part of the WHL playoff picture, Steenbergen said his Broncos spoke about not taking the Prince Albert side lightly.

    “We know they are out of it, but we know they are going to work their hardest to be spoilers,” said Steenbergen. “We knew that coming in.

    “They have been on a little bit of a roll lately, so we wanted to come out hard and play them physical. We know they are a physical team. We pushed back, and we got the outcome we wanted.”

    Steenbergen was both relieved and pumped to net the winning goal.

    “It was awesome,” said Steenbergen. “I had a couple of changes earlier in the game and didn’t quite go in for me.

    “Getting the win in this point in the year that is all we need. Now, we want to clinch that third place spot, so getting that win in regulation was huge for us.”

Parker Kelly scored twice on Tuesday for the Raiders.

    The win allowed the Broncos, who have won five straight, to improve to 35-20-4-5. They sit 12 points ahead of the idle Brandon Wheat Kings (29-27-7-3) for third place in the East Division with a game in hand. Swift Current needs to earn just one more point in the standings to lock up a third place finish.

    In Tuesday’s game, sophomore winger Parker Kelly scored at the 8:57 mark of the opening frame to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
    The hosts appeared to go ahead 2-0 crashing into the Swift Current net, but a goal from centre Sean Montgomery was waived due to the officials ruling the puck was kicked in.

    Before the opening frame ended, standout centre Lane Pederson netted his 20^th goal of the season for the Broncos to force a 1-1 tie.

    After a scoreless second, the Broncos went ahead 2-1 just pass the midway point of the third, when winger Kaden Elder one-timed home a shot.
    The edge held up for less than three minutes as Kelly potted his second of the contest to force a 2-2 tie. That set the stage for the dramatics in the final minute.

Ian Scott stops a high shot for the Raiders.

    Scott turned away 30-of-33 shots taking the loss in goal for the Raiders, who fell to 18-42-5-2. Backup Nicholas Sanders turned away two shots during a short appearance in the first period, when Scott left the contest to get an equipment issue fixed.

    Jordan Papirny, who was acquired in a trade earlier this season with the Wheat Kings, turned away 33 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos.

    Steenbergen is having a huge season for the Broncos leading the team in scoring with 47 goals and 35 assists.
    The Sylvan Lake, Alta., product said he has received a lot of help in piling up the points.

    “I’ve been getting a lot of good chances,” said Steenbergen. “I have to give credit to my teammates.

    “I am playing with some great players right now in Lindy (Lindgren) and Gawdz (Glenn Gawdin). Before, I played with Hepo (Aleksi Heponiemi) and Peedy (Pederson) too and Elds (Kaden Elder) even.

    “I am playing with great players and they are getting me the puck. I’ve been fortunate enough to put the puck in the net this year.”

    The Broncos appeared destined to face the Moose Jaw Warriors in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Broncos celebrate their win on Tuesday.

    With Papirny having backstopped the Wheat Kings to a WHL title last year, Steenbergen believes his Broncos can make some noise in the post-season, which is about three weeks away.

    “I think we can surprise some people,” said Steenbergen. “We are going to do some damage against Moose Jaw, and hopefully, we keep that up in the second round if we get past Moose Jaw.”

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