Broncos persevere against the Pats 5-4 in overtime

The Broncos may have been tired after three games in three days, but it didn’t show against the Pats on Sunday afternoon.

Swift Current pulled together a 5-4 overtime win against the first place Pats.

Ryley Lindgren sniped one past Regina goaltender Jordan Hollett three minutes and 16 seconds into OT to secure the win.

“They never gave up, which teams don’t. I thought that was buoyed by the goaltending and the penalty kill,” said Pats head coach John Paddock. “You get life from that.”

Broncos goaltender Taz Burman faced 47 shots in the win.

Unlike in Friday’s game, the Pats got out of the gate early. Austin Wagner found the back of the net less than three minutes into the first period.

Not long after it looked like Adam Brooks had got on the board with his first of the afternoon, but it was called back because the net was off the mooring.

The Broncos, who went scoreless against the Pats on Friday night, got their first goal 6:30 into the first period. Forward Kole Gable tied it up ensuring the Broncos would not be shut out again.

The Broncos kept pushing all game, likely motivated by that Friday night shutout, Nick Henry said.

“You beat (them) pretty good on Friday and they have a tough game last night in Moose Jaw,” he said. “Obviously once you beat a team like that they’re going to come back hard and try to beat you and they ended up doing it.”

Pats Henry netted his 31st goal of the season less than a minute later, putting the Pats ahead 2-1. His three-point game put him in first place among WHL rookies with 74 points. 

The back and forth continued through the first period, with Tyler Steenbergen getting past Hollett to tie things up at 2. That score held into the first intermission.

The second period didn’t come alive until about halfway through when Leedahl scored the Pats third goal 14 minutes in. The ensuing seconds saw both lines drop the gloves and start scrapping.

Five penalties were handed out as well as a game misconduct to Broncos defenceman Sahvan Khaira for charging. Bryan Lockner and Lam Schioler served time for the Pats. Arthur Miller and Kole Gable were in the box for the Broncos, and Riley Stotts sat for the ejected Khaira.

When the dust settled the Pats were on a five-minute powerplay and Sam Steel took advantage scoring his 44th of the season.  

The Pats 4-2 lead held into the second period, despite having nearly two minutes of a five on three advantage.

The lead wasn’t safe however and the Broncos came surging back with good chances in the third.

The scoring started early in the period with Aleksi Heponiemi squeaking one past Hollett’s right leg about 90 seconds in bringing the Broncos within one.

Despite immense pressure and seemingly endless slapshots by Conner Hobbs, the Pats couldn’t get any further ahead, allowing the Broncos the opportunity to tie it up after pulling Burman for the extra attacker.

The equalizer by Tyler Steenbergen sent the game to three-on-three overtime and lead to the Pats loss.

The Pats play again on Tuesday against Lethbridge, their fourth game in seven days. They’ll also play back to back games next weekend.

“It’s a grind on your body and guys are banged up, but I think it’s something that happens within playoffs and this is like a playoff series,” Henry said. “We’re playing lots of good teams here back to back to back … I think it’ll be positive if we can get on a roll.”

Puck drop is at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.