The Humboldt Broncos redeemed themselves Tuesday, February 5 when they hosted and defeated the visiting Nipawin Hawks 3-1 at the Elgar Petersen Arena.
The Hawks seemed to have the Broncos' number, especially when hosting Humboldt at the Centennial Arena in Nipawin.
The Hawks defeated the Broncos December 11 in Nipawin. The Broncos then went on a 15-game streak where they did not lose a game in regulation time, although they did lose two in shootouts. The streak of 15 was broken January 29, when the Hawks handed the Broncos a 2-1 regulation time loss.
Tuesday's game was the last meeting of the two clubs during regular season play.
For the first time in many games, Humboldt did not register the first shot on goal. Bronco goaltender Matt Hrynkiw made two big saves in the opening 1:38 of the period. The first half of the first frame was fast-paced and hard-hitting. Few stoppages allowed the teams to play and play hard they did.
The first entry on the score sheet was Bronco Matthew Audette who was called for interference. The Broncos' penalty kill was on top of its game, setting the tone for the remainder of the bout, eventually turning in a perfect performance on the evening.
A tripping penalty to Nipawin's Carter Berg at the 11:27 mark, gave the Broncos their first of three power-play opportunities.
The trio of Cody Pettapiece, David Stumborg and Alex Forsberg controlled the power play in the offensive end and it was Forsberg lighting the lamp to make it a 1-0 advantage for the home team.
At the end of 20 minutes, Humboldt led 1-0 despite being outshot 10-5 by Nipawin.
Every component of the Broncos' play was on target Tuesday night. With Humboldt's Kameren Ballas off for hooking, the penalty kill generated a handful of excellent scoring opportunities while successfully neutralizing the Hawks' power play.
Back at even strength, the Broncos were peppering Hawks' netminder Jordan Liem for a solid two minutes, when the Hawks cleared the zone and put together their own offensive rush. Dexter Bricker rang a shot off the net and it was picked up from behind the net by Jesse Bernard who fed a perfect pass to Tad Kozun standing on the RONA sign just above the red dot to the left of Hrynkiw. Kozun fired his shot high and just over the glove hand of Hrynkiw to tie the game at one with 2:33 remaining in the period.
With the game tied, the fans were in for an exciting third period and neither team disappointed.
Quick passes, end-to-end rushes, the ringing of the puck off the goalposts, misses on wide-open nets and heavy hits drew audible reactions from the fans.
Humboldt pounced on the opening faceoff of the period with John Lawrence depositing the puck onto the stick of Adam Antkowiak who beat Liem to give the Broncos a 2-1 lead only 33 seconds into the third.
Capitalizing on the momentum, the line of Stumborg and Antkowiak set up Cody Pongracz who netted Humboldt's insurance goal to make it 3-1.
When the final whistle blew the Broncos not only recorded a victory on the score sheet but also in the morale department, having sent home their on-road rivals with a regulation loss.
The three stars for the game were Antkowiak, Stumborg and Pongracz.
The Broncos played the Mustangs Friday night in Melfort.
