SWIFT CURRENT -- The Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current Broncos have seen a ton of overtime games this season, but the Broncos made sure that wouldn’t be the case on Friday night.
Swift Current scored four goals in the first period and would hold off a Warriors comeback before going on to a 5-3 victory in Western Hockey League action. The previous six meetings between the teams had seen four games go to extra time, with the Broncos winning four of those outings.
Moose Jaw fell to 14-45-6-2 and will finish in 11th place in the Eastern Conference. Swift Current improved to 35-29-1-2 and will gear up for the first round of the WHL Playoffs beginning next weekend.
Swift Current got off to a great start and controlled play in the Warriors zone through the first five minutes, and they’d be rewarded with the game’s opening goal before Moose Jaw had a shot on net.
Luke Mistelbacher carried into the Warriors zone and found Rylan Gould with plenty of time and space on his wing, and a quick backdoor tap-in later, the Broncos had a 1-0 lead 4:09 into the game.
Swift Current then scored two in quick succession midway through the period.
Parker Rondeau outdueled a pair of Moose Jaw defenders in front of the net to make it 2-0 with 8:53 to play in the first and 21 seconds later Mistelbacher scored his 41st of the season for the early three-goal lead.
The Broncos didn’t let up and hit their season high for goals in a single period when Brady Birnie found a loose puck at the side of the net and knocked it home with 5:31 to play in the frame.
Owen Berge got one back for Moose Jaw before the period was out, taking a pass on his wing from Krzysztof Macias and going in on a partial breakaway before putting a low shot home. The goal came with 2:32 remaining in the first.
Warriors captain Lynden Lakovic pulled his team back within a pair with 4:29 gone in the second, tipping home a feed to the front of the net by Pavel McKenzie. The goal was the projected NHL Draft first rounder’s 25th of the season.
Lakovic had another great scoring chance before the period was out, and Ethan Hughes nearly got the Warriors to within one after a breakaway chance early in the third, but Broncos goaltender Reid Dyck would come up with the big saves.
Mistelbacher restored Swift Current’s three goal lead with 10:50 gone in the third, taking a pass from behind the net from Hunter Mayo and tucking the puck around Warriors goaltender Josh Banini.
The Warriors got that one back quickly, with Lakovic scoring on the power play after pouncing on a redirection and putting a shot from the left faceoff circle into the open net.
That would be as close as Moose Jaw would get, though, and despite some late pressure with Banini pulled for an extra attacker, Swift Current would take the two-goal win.
Banini finished with 46 saves on the night, while Dyck stopped 25 for the Broncos.
The two teams will close out their regular seasons on Saturday night at Temple Gardens Centre, with puck drop at 7 p.m.
