Playing their third game in as many nights, the host Swift Current Broncos came up with one of their biggest wins of the season with a 3-1 victory over the Eastern Conference leading Edmonton Oil Kings.
Broncos captain Adam Lowry scored twice, defenseman Reece Scarlett assisted on all three goals, and Eetu Laurikainen followed up on his first career shutout with a 38-save performance as the Broncos defeated Edmonton for the first time in four attempts this season.
It was a stark turnaround for the Broncos who had lost three straight games before wins over Prince Albert and Edmonton, both division leaders in the Eastern Conference.
“It was an absolutely huge win,” said Broncos defenseman Dillon Heatherington. “We were kind of in the slumps coming into this one, besides the win over P.A., we were in the slumps and in the mud. I am really proud of the guys tonight stepping up. Everyone played their role and everyone just did what they needed to do and got the job done.”
Lowry scored the only goal of the first period when he netted his 35th of the season to put the Broncos up 1-0 after 20 minutes.
Richard Nedomlel fired home a powerplay goal midway through the middle stanza to put the Broncos up by two goals. The import defenseman now has five goals in his past 13 games after failing to score in his first 42 games of the season.
Dylan Wruck quickly replied for the Oil Kings with a powerplay goal 2:43 later to cut the Broncos lead in half with his 18th goal of the season.
The Broncos held on in the third period and regained the two-goal lead when Lowry added a powerplay goal before the Oil Kings’ comeback attempt was stalled by a string of penalties in the final minutes.
The Broncos moved into sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a 27-24-3-2 record, while Edmonton continues to lead the Conference with a 41-12-2-3 record, 11 points ahead of second-place Calgary.
There won’t be much rest for the weary as the Broncos head to Saskatoon Tuesday to face the streaking Blades (31-21-0-3) for their fourth game in five days followed by a road game against the Prince Albert Raiders (31-20-23) Wednesday.
