Broncos buck Tigers, snap point streak at 13 games

Nine minutes later, the Tigers would respond.

Gavin McKenna would pick up a drop pass from Tigers Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt and roof it past the shoulder of Broncos goaltender Joey Rocha to know the game even at one.

Swift Current would take a late penalty, and the Tigers would begin the second period on the powerplay with the game square at one through 20.

The Tigers would fail to capitalize on the man-advantage to begin the middle frame, but would not let up.

Just under nine minutes into the second, Josh Van Mulligan sprung Marcus Pacheco on a 2-on-0 with Hunter St. Martin into the Broncos zone.

Pacheco would hold onto the puck until the last second and dish a pass across from St. Martin who scored to make it 2-1 Tigers and give Medicine Hat their first lead of the night.

Two minutes later the Tigers would stretch their lead to a pair.

Ryder Ritche deked into the far circle of the Swift Current zone and fed a pass across for Oasiz Wiesblatt who touched the puck pact Joey Rocha while taking a hit, to get the Tigers in front 3-1.

The Tigers would carry that lead into the final minute of the second when things would get interesting.

With less than a minute to go in the period Broncos forward Kurt Rookes went after Tigers forward, and former Bronco Mathew Ward off a faceoff, cross-checking Ward several times while he was down on the ice.

After the play was blown dead, the referees convened and gave Rookes a five-minute major for cross-checking, sending the Tigers to a five-minute powerplay.

The Tigers would fail to score in the final forty seconds of the frame but would enter the intermission up 3-1, with over four minutes of powerplay time on the clock to begin the third period.

Entering the game, the Tigers were 23-3-0-0 when leading through two periods.

The third period began with the Tigers on the powerplay but struggled to set up much offensively in the Broncos zone.

Two minutes into the final frame, the Broncos would get a short-handed chance the other way, and Markus Ruck would get called for high-sticking as he tried to backcheck.

The penalty would turn into a double-minor as Ruck drew blood, and that would conclude the Tiger powerplay, and give the Broncos a man advantage once the major to Rookes had expired.

Both 4-on-4 play and the Swift Current powerplay proved fruitless but the Broncos had momentum.

The Tigers would do what they could to fight back, but in the offensive zone, Oasiz Wiesblatt would get called for interference, sending the Broncos back to the powerplay.

This time, the Broncos would capitalize.

Luke Mistelbacher would direct a puck towards goal and the puck deflected off the skate of Tigers defenseman Tanner Molendyk and slipped between the pads of Harrison Meneghin, to get the Broncos within a goal.

Then with exactly five minutes left in the hockey game, the Broncos would tie the game up at three.

Trae Wilke would tip a point shot perfectly past Meneghin to square the game up heading into the home stretch.

The Broncos wasted little time taking back the lead as 1:25 later, they would strike, and it would be none other than Swift Current’s leading scorer, Luke Mistelbacher.

Mistelbacher would find himself on a breakaway entering the Tigers zone, and zipped a shot past Meneghin for his second goal of the night and 34th of the season, to give the Broncos their first lead since the 13:31 mark of the first period.

The Tigers would push back but were unable to strike back.

The closest they came was in the dying moments when Gavin McKenna seamed a pass through traffic right onto the stick of Tanner Molendyk who one-timed the puck towards Joey Rocha, who sprawled to make the save.

Swift Current would add an empty-netter with under ten seconds to go, but the goal was undercut by a late hit by Oasiz Wiesblatt on Swift Current Captain Clarke Caswell, leading to a massive scrum in the Tigers zone.

All-in-all Wiesblatt was assessed a five-minute major for charging and was tossed from the game.

There would be one other scrum in the final seconds but the buzzer would sound and the Swift Current Broncos would defeat the Medicine Hat Tigers in come-from-behind fashion 5-3.

The loss is just the second regulation loss for Medicine Hat, their other also coming at the hands of the Swift Current Broncos back on January 3rd.

The regular season series ends tied at two between the former division rivals, and they will only see each other again if the clubs matchup in the postseason.

The Medicine Hat Tigers (33-16-2-1) will have little time to dwell on the loss as they turn the page to the Prince Albert Raiders (27-17-3-1) who face the Tigers Saturday night to wrap up the Tigers brief two-game homestand.

by Will Bryant

Broncos buck Tigers, snap point streak at 13 games

Our Community