Late goal leads Broncos past Mustangs
Logan Schatz played the hero as the Humboldt Broncos knocked off the Melfort Mustangs 3-2 in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Melfort on Jan. 20.
Schatz took a Nick Shumlanski feed, and beat Mustangs goaltender Evan Plotnik with two seconds remaining in the third period to give the green and gold the win.
“It was pretty exciting. It was one of the most exciting goals I’ve scored probably in my career. It was a lot of fun to celebrate with the guys,” noted Schatz.
Recalling the goal, Schatz remembers the Broncos forcing a turnover at the blueline, and Fiske moving the puck to Shumlanski, who hit Schatz streaking down the far side.
“I thought about making a move. I didn’t realize I had that bit of time and heard somebody yelling and just decided to shoot the puck. It went through the guys legs and I don’t think Plotnik had much time to react to it.”
Despite being outshot 10-7 in the opening period, it was the Broncos who came away with the lead as Shumlanski, and former Mustang Jaxon Joseph, while shorthanded, both found the back of the net to give the Broncos a 2-0 lead just 12:52 in.
The Mustangs got one back before the end of the period as Loch Morrison beat Broncos goaltender Jacob Wassermann on the power play as the Broncos took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
After giving up three goals on 17 shots in the opening period, the goaltenders took over in the second with Wassermann busy making 12 stops and Plotnik turning away nine as neither team found the back of the net.
The Mustangs turned the screws on the Broncos in the third firing 16 shots on the Broncos goal, getting rewarded early as former Bronco Andrew Thompson scored his 14th goal of the season to tie the score at two with 14:03 to play.
The Thompson goal set up Schatz’s heroics.
The win was just the second this season for the Broncos against the leagues top four teams, but was their second straight, which is huge, notes Schatz, especially with the playoffs just over a month away.
“Come playoff time we’re going to have to play those guys… we have to find a way to win those games against those teams and get some points against them and (Jan. 20) was a gutsy effort by everybody. We snuck out two points and we didn’t allow them to get one, which is massive. We’re trying to catch them in the standings.”
Discipline was an issue for the Broncos as they gave the Mustangs seven opportunities with the man advantage limiting the home side to just a single goal.
Despite the penalty troubles, it was a solid night for the Broncos, who are putting together strong efforts on a near nightly basis, which is nice to see, says Schatz, who notes his team still has work to do.
“There’s still breakdowns that we have throughout a game, which is going to happen and there’s growing pains. We still have a couple guys out of the lineup and I’m really excited once those guys get back to really get rolling and to see what this team’s made of.”
Wassermann picked up the win in the Broncos goal turning aside 36 of the 38 shots he faced for his first SJHL win of 2018, in his first start, and 13th win overall.
Strong even strength play leads Broncos to win over Hounds
Logan Hunter scored twice in the first period and the Humboldt Broncos never looked back picking up a huge 4-3 win over the division rival Notre Dame Hounds in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Humboldt on Jan. 21.
The regulation win was of particular importance to the Broncos as they continue to try to chase down the Hounds for fifth in the SJHL standings.
The win moves them one point back with the teams even on games played.
“It was huge. These four points we got this weekend were crucial for the standings to climb up,” noted Broncos forward Logan Hunter of the win.
The Broncos came out flying in the early part of the game, creating turnovers and carrying the play, and were rewarded for it early as Logan Hunter finished off a nice feed from Logan Schatz to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead just 5:20 in.
After Jared Hamm scored on the power play to tie the score at one, Hunter finished off another nice pass, this time from Conner Lukan, scoring his second of the period, and 15th of the season to give the Broncos a 2-1 lead.
The game remained 2-1 in favour of the green and gold until the 11:24 mark of the second, when former Hound Kaleb Dahlgren made the visitors pay with his eighth goal of the year to give the Broncos a 3-1 lead.
The penalties began piling up for the Broncos in the second, as they gave the Hounds five power plays, and were punished for it as Olivier Lantagne scored his fifth of the year, sending the game into the third period with the Broncos in front 3-2.
After failing to capitalize on a trio of power plays in the first ten minutes of the third, the Broncos’ depth came through as Graysen Cameron fooled Hounds goaltender Jack Ryan with a bad angle shot to give the Broncos a 4-2 lead at 10:02 of the third period.
Tim Gould responded for the Hounds, but it was too little too late as his goal with 18 seconds to play left his team with too little time to complete the comeback, giving the Broncos the win and the points.
After a parade to the penalty box in the second, Hunter says the game was a perfect example of the character in the dressing room that they were able to refocus and get back to work.
“When things aren’t going our way, puck bounces or penalties, we can regroup quick. We’ve got a positive attitude in the dressing room and we have good leadership so that’s huge for all the rookies.”
Special teams were not all that special for the Broncos as they finished just 1-for-5 with the man advantage, while killing off just 4-of-7 power plays against.
With the special teams not having their best night of the season, Hunter noted that is was just a sign of how good they were 5-on-5.
“I think we were very good 5-on-5 today. The penalties kind of killed us today. We couldn’t really control the refs but we came back and we got the momentum back after the penalties and got some goals.”
One of the keys for the Broncos coming into the contest was being aggressive on the Hounds’ defenders and force them to turn the puck over, noted Hunter.
“They like to go up the wall quick around the net and I think my first goal (Logan Schatz) did the exact same thing and they put it right to his tape.”
Parker Tobin picked up the win in the Broncos goal turning aside 28 of the 31 shots he faced as the teams finished with 31 shots apiece.
The Broncos enjoy a brief break before returning to action on Jan. 24 when they visit the Kindersley Klippers.
Heading into the contest the Broncos have been perfect against the Klippers this season, winning all five contests with four of them coming in regulation.
Despite holding all kinds of success against the Klippers this season, Schatz warns that his club needs to be ready, noting that this is the first season they have had success against the Klippers in his four years with the green and gold.
“We’ve got to work hard for everything we want and earn what we have to get. It’s going to be a tough game, they’ve got big bodies that like to crash and bang. It’s going to be a fun hockey game for sure.”
