Morgan Clark and the Swift Current Broncos shutout an opponent for the first time this season as they defeated the visiting Red Deer Rebels 6-0 on Saturday evening.
Clark made 37 saves and Justin Dowling netted a hat trick as the Broncos snapped a six-game losing streak at the Credit Union iplex.
"It feels great," said Clark. "The whole team played great defensively, kind of built off of last night in Prince Albert. We struggled a little bit in the early going but we really got things going in the second period when Sticks (Michael Stickland) got one and kind of opened things up for us."
The Broncos last shutout a team back on Jan. 3, 2009 when they blanked the Lethbridge Hurricanes by a 6-0 count when Travis Yonkman stopped 23 shots. Saturday's shutout ends an 85-game stretch without a shutout.
Clark’s last shutout was back on March 1, 2008 as a member of the Red Deer Rebels when he made 28 saves in a 4-0 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Ironically, Clark’s first WHL shutout in a Red Deer uniform came when he stopped 27 shots while blanking the Broncos 4-0 back on Oct. 28, 2006.
The Broncos broke out for goals by four different skaters over a 7:14 span in the second period to take control of the game.
Stickland, wearing the captain's 'C' in Derek Claffey's absence, opened the scoring at the 10:41 mark followed by Cody Eakin's 39th goal of the season minutes later.
Dowling added a powerplay marker at 17:16, followed by a Dillon Wagner goal just 39 seconds later.
Dowling added a pair of third period goals for his second hat trick of the season and third of his WHL career.
Rebels starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper gave up three goals on 18 shots in 37:16 of play to fall to 21-17-0-3. Kraymer Barnstable stopped 15 of 18 shots in a replacement appearance.
The Broncos have been picking up the majority of their points in overtime and shootouts lately. It was their first regulation win since January 1st, a span of 15 games without a regulation win.
The win improved the Broncos to 28-25-0-3, one point back of the eighth and final playoff spot, while the Rebels dropped to 30-21-0-4, sixth in the Eastern Conference.
Swift Current has won all three meetings versus Red Deer, with their last win a 3-2 shootout decision on Jan. 8. The teams conclude their season series in Red Deer on March 5.
Tuesday the Broncos will host the Calgary Hitmen at 7:30 p.m. at the Credit Union iplex. The Broncos just dropped a 2-1 loss to the Hitmen on Wednesday. "I think that the one thing we didn't do a great job of last time was creating scoring chances," said Clark. "I think we played decently in our own end and had great penalty killing. But I think we have to get pucks in deep and create more traffic around their net and get in their goalie's face."
