Brayden Camrud played the overtime hero, scoring 1:38 into the first overtime giving the Humboldt Broncos a 3-2 overtime win over the Melfort Mustangs in game 4 of their Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League quarterfinal series in Humboldt.
The Broncos now lead the Bourgault Cup series 3-1, with game five back in Melfort on March 24.
Camrud skated over the Mustangs blueline early in the extra session, and with his shift winding down threw the puck towards the goal.
His shot seemed to fool Mustangs netminder Evan Plotnik, who got a piece of the shot but could not get all of it as it rolled over his shoulder and into the net for the winner.
Heading into overtime, Camrud said the message was to keep it simple, which he used to his benefit on the game winner.
“Coming in on a 3-on-2 we were talking about stopping up and just putting it into safe areas. I was at the end of my shift and I stopped up and I saw guys going to the net so I just fired it and the goalie didn’t make a very good save.”
Nick Shulmanski, and Stephen Wack had the other Broncos goals, while Conner Lukan, Jaxon Joseph, and Logan Schatz added the assists.
Parker Tobin, making his second straight start, made 27 saves for his second career playoff victory.
Camrud’s overtime winner was redemption of sorts for the 19-year-old.
The Saskatoon native found himself in the penalty box for the Mustangs’ second goal, which at the time gave them the lead, after taking an ill advised slashing penalty after the second period horn sounded.
Being able to redeem himself, “felt pretty good” admitted the Saskatoon native.
“(I took) a couple bad penalties earlier in the game and my teammates bailed me out and then (the Mustangs) ended up scoring on the one so I felt pretty bad. And then I’ve got a lot of family here so as soon as I saw it cross the line it was a good feeling.”
Colin Schmidt scored both Mustangs goals, while Tyler Heidt, Justin Ball, and Andrew Thompson added the assists.
Plotnik made 35 saves in the Mustangs goal.
It was mission accomplished of sorts for the Broncos, who came home looking to hold the home ice advantage they stole from Melfort with their game one win.
“I think we got the job done and it wasn’t pretty here coming to the end, a couple bad (turnovers) but we definitely got the outcome we wanted and we have an opportunity to finish the series on Saturday so looking forward to it,” noted Camrud.
Shumlanski scored on the power play at 9:20 of the first period, sneaking a wrist shot from the top of the circle through the arm of Plotnik to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead.
The Broncos hung on to the one goal lead until 9:22 of period two, when Schmidt found some open space in the circle to the left of Tobin and fired a wrist shot high over the blocker and into the top corner for his second goal of the series.
After Camrud was called for slashing Mustangs defenseman Adam Hergott on the teams’ way off the ice, Schmidt made him pay just 55 seconds into the third period power play, wrapping the puck around the goal and passed Tobin who could not get his pad across to the post quick enough.
With the Broncos trailing 2-1, the green and gold pressed for the equalizer.
That is where Wack came in.
The 20-year-old St. Albert, Alta. native broke into the Mustangs zone, and with a pair of Mustangs in his face fired a perfectly placed wrist shot by the outstretched blocker of Plotnik to tie the score at two with just 2:23 left in period three.
Wack picked a perfect time to notch his first of the series, as the 20-year-old scored his first goal since Feb. 13, a span of ten straight games without a goal.
The goal was just Wack’s sixth this season, including regular season and playoffs, and was just his second in 2018.
“Coming into overtime I talked to him, I sit beside him in the room so he’s like ‘hey, that doesn’t happen very often but it came at a good time,’ and we were joking about it. He was real happy and I’m real happy that it ended up going in. We caught a break there and it was good and it went our way,” noted Camrud of Wack’s goal.
That set the stage for Camrud’s overtime winner.
Despite the green and gold facing their second loss of the series with time winding down, the Broncos refused to quit.
The Broncos have been excellent this season at coming back late in games, which is buoyed by the fact the morale in the Broncos’ dressing room is “awesome”, notes Camrud.
“Guys are just so positive and we never let each other get down...we’re playing for each other and we’re playing to win so it’s a good feeling on the bench and it’s a good atmosphere,” noted Camrud.
The Broncos were without Ryan Straschnitzki, who was serving the first of a two game suspension courtesy of his boarding penalty from the night prior.
After managing at least two power play goals in each of the first three games, the green and gold had an off night of sorts scoring once on five opportunities.
It was another solid night for their penalty kill as they held Melfort to one goal on six chances.
