The Humboldt Broncos are starting to get positive results and right in time for their playoff push. After picking up a huge two points in their final game last week against Nipawin, the Broncos picked up where they left off this week getting three out of a possible four points.
Both games were on home ice, which continued their string of strong home ice performances. In their last seven home games the Broncos are an impressive 5-1-1.
Broncos Head Coach Darcy Haugan attributes the strong run at home to the team starting to mature and get used to playing junior “A” hockey.
He said with guys like Moro, Kapelke and Fontaine gone now it is time for other players to step up, which is something he feels they have at home. Now he says they have to figure out how to do it on the road.
Their first game came against the suddenly surging Notre Dame Hounds on Jan. 12.
The Hounds came into the game against the Broncos with a 4-0-1 record in their previous five games and have been quickly climbing up the league standings.
The first period started off very well for the Broncos as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead less than four minutes in on a goal by Laramie Kostelansky.
The rest of the period was back and forth as both teams had their chances.
Ian Williams tied the game with just over six minutes remaining in period. Moments later, Broncos defenseman Corey Dambrauskas took a five-minute major penalty for checking to the head which also resulted in a game misconduct.
After the game, Dambrauskas was suspended three games for the hit.
During the ensuing penalty Broncos defenseman Andrew McCann scored a shorthanded goal to regain the Broncos lead heading into the intermission.
The Broncos killed the rest of the power play off at the start of the second period.
Not long after the Dambrauskas penalty expired McCann was sent off for tripping.
The Broncos killed that penalty off before settling into a defensive battle for most of the remainder of the second period.
The Hounds peppered Broncos goalie Ryan LaRochelle with shots, to no avail.
With just over a minute remaining, the Broncos had a flurry around the Hounds goal, forward Daniel McKitrick picked up the puck behind the net and made a nice move to the front scoring a pretty backhand off the cross bar to extend the Broncos lead to 3-1.
Just as it looked like the Broncos would take that two-goal lead into the second intermission the Hounds struck back.
Gage Ramsay scored with 3.8 seconds left in the period to cut the Hounds deficit to 3-2 heading into the third period, despite outshooting the Broncos 22-14 to that point.
The shot differential got even worse for the Broncos in the third period as the Hounds threw everything they had at the Broncos, outshooting them 12-3. The Broncos played a bend but don’t break style of defense for much of the third period.
After a Hounds timeout with just under two minutes remaining the Broncos were under siege.
The Hounds pulled their goalie and had the puck in the Broncos zone for the remainder of the game. With 0.7 seconds remaining in the game disaster struck for the Broncos in the form of a Kobe Kindrachuk tieing goal.
The game went to overtime tied at three.
Overtime didn’t last too long as Riley Mohr scored less than two minutes in to complete the comeback 4-3 for the Hounds.
The Broncos picked up a much-needed point but saw their second point lost at the last possible second, which could prove costly as we head towards the playoffs.
Looking to rebound from their tough loss the Broncos returned to action on Jan. 16 against the team they were chasing for the final playoff spot, the Yorkton Terriers. The Broncos came into the game trailing the Terriers by three points, with both teams level on games at 40.
The Broncos came out of the gate flying, as they grabbed a 2-0 lead less than eight minutes into the first period on goals by Tristan Hermanson and Josh Roberts. Shane Sherban cut the Broncos lead to 2-1 after a nice individual effort.
The remainder of the game turned into a defensive battle with neither team scoring and there being only one penalty called after the first period.
With neither team scoring after the first the Broncos held on for a huge 2-1 win over the Terriers to cut their deficit to one point for that final playoff spot.
Coach Haugan reflected on the week and said that while the lost to Notre Dame was tough the points were still big for his team.
“Unfortunately a lot went wrong in that last six seconds (Jan. 12). That was a real good team we were playing (Notre Dame), I don’t think they have lost since the new year so it’s a real important point, obviously when you look at it (the last) six seconds it was pretty devastating but we responded pretty well with a big effort tonight (Jan. 16), that was critical,” he said.
Next Week
After a pair of home games this week, the Broncos head out on the road for a trio of games next week against the Viterra Division. Their first stop is in Melville on Jan. 19 for a date with the Millionaires. The Broncos continue traveling south for dates in Weyburn against former Bronco Jarrett Fontaine and the Red Wings on Jan. 22 before moving on to Estevan for a date with the red hot Bruins, who have one regulation loss in their last ten games on Jan. 23.
The Broncos road record sits at a miserable 2-16-1 this season with their last win coming on Sept. 25, 2015.
Haugan said that their struggles on the road come down to preparation and puck management.
“We have to take care of that puck, we have to understand what we’re doing with it and understand the ramifications of what happens when you don’t...we just have to have guys making hard plays with pucks, especially when every shift matters,” he said.
