Broncos clinch at Tigers’ expense

By Ryan McCracken on February 17, 2018.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

The Swift Current Broncos became the second team in the Western Hockey League to punch their ticket to the playoffs with a milestone victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday at the Credit Union i-Plex.

Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin scored his 50th goal of the year and Aleksi Heponiemi logged his 100th point to hand the Tigers their sixth straight road loss with a commanding 6-2 victory.

“There were some things we did very well at times, there were some guys who played very well, but wasn’t probably as consistent with the way we play,” said Tigers head coach Shaun Clouston, adding the bright spots appeared in the latter half of the lineup. “I was really impressed with some of the younger players. I thought our fourth line was great.”

The Broncos took over an early lead when Tyler Steenbergen picked up a turnover in the Tigers end and beat Michael Bullion upstairs for his 41st goal of the season.

Swift Current’s opportunistic approach continued to pay off when Heponiemi forced another offensive zone turnover and fed former Lethbridge Hurricane Giorgio Estephan to leave the Tigers trailing by a pair — but the onslaught was far from over.

Medicine Hat’s struggles quickly shifted to special teams when Elijah Brown and Henry Rybinski were nabbed for a pair of minor penalties, and the Broncos made sure they paid for both infractions.

First Beck Malenstyn fired one past Bullion just 10 seconds into Brown’s hooking minor, then Gawdin struck for his team-leading 50th goal on a one-timer with Rybinski in the box for tripping to leave Medicine Hat buried in a four-goal deficit after 20 minutes.

While the Tigers kept Swift Current goaltender Stuart Skinner busy with 12 shots in the first period and nine more in the second, it was the Broncos who once again made the most of their chances in the middle frame.

Matteo Gennaro joined the scoring party midway through the period then Malenstyn tacked on with his second goal of the evening just 36 seconds later. Heponiemi picked up his fourth assist of the game on Gennaro’s goal to reach 100 points.

See Lane, Page A11

The back-to-back goals chased Bullion from the crease after six goals on 15 shots, but opened the door for affiliate goaltender Kaeden Lane’s WHL debut.

The 16-year-old Burnaby product kicked off his career with four saves in the second before holding one of the league’s most prolific offences at bay with 14 more in the third.

“He looked calm and composed in there,” said Clouston. “He had to make some difficult saves — it wasn’t just routine. He had to stop a breakaway and had to battle in some close-quarter rebounds and I thought he was real good.”

Ryan Jevne broke Skinner’s bid for a shutout two minutes into the third period and Henry Rybinski added another in the dying minutes of the frame, but they only put a dent in Swift Current’s lead.

Medicine Hat’s depleted blue line took another hit when defenceman Dylan MacPherson blocked a shot with the side of the knee midway through the game. The 19-year-old Redcliff product left the game and required an X-ray, but the results came back negative. Clouston says his status remains uncertain, but added he hopes to see MacPherson return quickly.

“Sometimes they really hurt but get better, sometimes it takes a while,” said Clouston.

Skinner stopped 37 shots to lock up the victory and push Swift Current to 42-13-3-1 in front of a sold out crowd of 2,890. Medicine Hat fell to 28-24-7-0 with the loss.

The Tigers have the chance to rebound from the loss when the home-and-home set shifts to the Canalta Centre for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. rematch.