Keens Korner Broncos/Raiders

[Scout]

Keen's Korner

Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Seven Straight

The Prince Albert Raiders couldn't get out of town fast enough. Could you blame them?

For the 7th time this season, the Broncos posted the win. Last night an 8-3 romp at the Civic Center. The win moves the Broncos back into 3rd spot in the east division - a point better than the Raiders.

The game sure got interesting when Matt Robertson scored a PP goal 1:39 into the third period to make it 4-2. Mike Wilson responded shortly after with a nice goal featuring a pretty finish upstairs on Jesse Deckert to restore the three goal cushion. After that, it was a walk.

Levi Nelson finished the game with two goals and an assist, Zack Smith had a pair of goals. Singles came from Jeremy Schenderling, Kyle Bortis, Mike Wilson and R.J. Larochelle. Brady Leavold chipped in with three assists.

In the pre-game, Raiders head coach Pete Anholt wanted to change up his luck so he jokingly said he didn't want to talk to me for the coaches interview, instead he sent out assistant coach Kris Knoblauch. Apparently the strategy didn't work.

So here's the deal. The Broncos need to go into Saskatoon tonight and beat the Blades. A win would almost secure a playoff spot. There's another big divisional battle in Moose Jaw tonight when the Warriors host the Raiders.

Time is limited today with the team hitting the road just after 2pm for Toontown so I'll just add a few quick tidbits.

-Saskatchewan's hockey team will not be bringing home a medal from the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse. Team B.C. edged Team Sask 5-4 in overtime in the quarter-final game. Broncos forward Geordie Wudrick scored in the B.C. win. Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario also advanced to the final four.

- What a scrap last night in Regina! As predicted, Aaron Boogard and Myles Stoesz went at it. The Leaderpost had pretty much set up the tilt in the paper yesterday morning. I was watching the game live on the WHL webcast. The fight occured just as the national anthem began for the Broncos game. Safe to say I wasn't "standing on guard" as I leaned over with colorman Ryan Switzer to check out the pre-meditated heavyweight bout. DECISION: BOOGARD

- It was four plus periods of hockey in Prince George last night. The Cougars and the Silvertips first had to play the third period of a game that was suspended earlier in the season because of dangerous ice conditions. They picked up the action in the third with the Cougars up 2-1. Everett tied it then won the game in a shootout. The Cougs got revenge in game two as they posted a 6-4 win.

- What an NHL Trade Deadline! Some big moves as teams bulk up for a playoff run. It was interesting to see how TSN and Sportsnet handled their coverage. The two TV heavyweights took much different approaches. TSN did the regular shtick while Sportsnet had a "Trade Deadline Bash". DECISION: TSN. They did a much better job of breaking the trades and getting in touch with the players who were just dealt. Sportsnet just had Bill Watters and Nick Kypreos fight over chicken wings. I didn't buy-in. What did you think?

We're on the air again tonight from Saskatoon at 6:30pm with the pre-game show, face-off at 7pm.

Have a good Wednesday,

Jon

[Scout]

Last updated at 10:59 PM on 27/02/07

Broncos continue to dominate Raiders

BOOSTER STAFF
The Southwest Booster

The Swift Current Broncos regained sole possession of third place in the East Division standings with an 8-3 win over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders.
A series of firsts were the difference in the Broncos posting their seventh straight season win over the Raiders.
The Broncos scored on their first shot in both the first and second periods, plus they scored on their first powerplay shot of the contest while collecting a key two points in a close fought East Division playoff race.
Jeremy Schenderling scored a shorthanded goal 40 seconds into the game, firing a shot low to Raiders goaltender Jesse Deckert’s stick side to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead on their first shot on goal.
The Raiders tied the game at 1-1 when Ashton Hewson fired home a long rebound off a Kyle Moir save on Devon LeBlanc shot to even the game 7:49 into the contest.
Swift Current needed just eight seconds on their first powerplay of the game to regain a lead they would never give up. Deckert stopped Michael Wilson’s initial point shot, but the rebound came right to Kyle Bortis who found the open side of the net for a 2-1 lead.
The Broncos first shot of the middle period also found the back of the net, after Zack Smith converted a Dale Weise centring pass following a Raiders turnover behind their own net. Swift Current led 4-1 after 40 minutes of play when R.J. LaRochelle was credited with his third goal of the season. LaRochelle flipped an innocent looking shot on goal, which was accidentally gloved into the net by a Raiders defender who was trying to clear the puck.
Matt Robertson served notice the Raiders were not going to give up when he scored his team leading 33rd goal of the season on a powerplay just 1:39 into the third period. Prince Albert also added a late goal from Mike Gauthier in the final minutes.
In a key series of end-to-end plays, the Broncos hit the post at one end, Moir stopped a breakaway attempt by Hewson on the following rush, and Wilson made it a 5-2 game when he connected for his eighth goal of the campaign on the ensuing trip up ice.
That decisive series of plays allowed the Broncos to pull away instead of being in a one goal contest.
Then the Levi Nelson show took centre stage, with the 18-year-old scoring his 15th of the season, notching a shorthanded goal 2:15 later, and setting up the Broncos final goal from Zack Smith with 3:11 left in regulation.
The win allows Swift Current to end a three game losing streak and improve to 27-33-1-2, which places them a point ahead of the 25-31-3-3 Raiders who have played one fewer games than the Broncos.
Nelson admitted Tuesday's win could not have come at a better time.
“They are in our division and we have been battling back and forth the whole year. Coming down to the playoffs these are the games that we need to win. We came out tonight and played the full 60-minutes. I thought we played real well in a lot of different areas and it showed on the scoreboard," Nelson said. “This was a big game tonight, it was two points we needed. We worked hard for those two points.”
Broncos overage netminder Kyle Moir earned his 16th win of the season by stopping 26 of 29 shots.
Raiders overage goaltender Jesse Deckert yielded six goals on 25 shots during 47:12 of play. David Aime finished the game in the Raiders net, giving up two goals on six shots.
Swift Current has now won all seven meetings between the two clubs this season. The Division rivals meet for the eighth and final time on March 11 in Prince Albert.
LaRochelle, who had not scored since Jan. 12 against his former Lethbridge Hurricanes teammates, said they are enjoying the win tonight, but know they have to quickly re-focus for the stretch drive of the season.
“We have to put this game in the past and start focusing on Saskatoon (Wednesday night). Those are even bigger points then the ones here tonight. They kind of embarrassed us here last time, so we have to be ready to go tomorrow.”