Broncos Let Big Lead Slip, But Recover For Overtime Triumph Over Blades

A gallant comeback was good enough to earn a point, but a poor start and a tough ending kept the Saskatoon Blades from gaining a second point in a 4-3 overtime loss in Swift Current to the Broncos Saturday.

Rookie 17-year-old Russian Stepan Kuryachenkov capped a hat-trick by scoring a power play goal at 3:47 of O-T as Speedy Creek ended a five-game winless skid overall and a five-game losing streak, head-to-head, against the Bridge City Bunch. Swifty chased netminder Evan Gardner from the net with three goals on eight shots in the first 17 minutes as the Blue and Gold floundered with mistakes and bad bounces. Ryley Budd back-stopped the Blades’ comeback, only to be the victim of Kuryachenkov’s winner on the 19th shot he faced. Rowan Calvert assisted on all the Saskatoon goals – scored by Zach Olsen, Kazden Mathies and Cooper Williams. The latter tally came with 39 seconds remaining in the third period and Budd on the bench for an extra attacker. Williams also chipped in an assist. The overtime loss kept the Bridge City Bunch from pulling back alongside Brandon for second place in the East Division and fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Blue and Gold are 22-16-4 for 48 points – one behind the Wheat Kings, with both teams having played 42 games, while Calgary is fourth in the Conference with 51 points and holding the last home-ice advantage spot for the first round of the playoffs. The Hitmen also have two games in hand on the Blades and the Wheaties. Saskatoon’s next action is Wednesday at home to the Victoria Royals. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show interview with head coach Dan Da Silva and the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L website…..

SASKATOON Goals SASKATOON PLAYERS (plus) SWIFT CURRENT PLAYERS (minus) Per. Time  G-As1-As2 2nd 2:14 PP  9-16-23 3rd 1:59  77-23-3 3 4 17 23 77 5 26 32 42 44 3rd 19:21 EN  16-11-23 9 11 16 20 23 47 3 19 28 29 39

SWIFT CURRENT Goals SWIFT CURRENT PLAYERS (plus) SASKATOON PLAYERS (minus) Per. Time  G-As1-As2 1st 10:39  33-19-29 7 19 28 29 33 9 11 16 37 47 1st 16:09  33-29 3 19 28 29 33 3 4 20 23 77 1st 16:27  42 3 15 28 32 42 9 11 16 34 47 OT 3:47 PP  33-19