Broncos fail to finish period strong in loss to Hawks
A sloppy minute of play served as the difference as the Humboldt Broncos dropped a 3-2 decision to the Nipawin Hawks in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Humboldt.
The Dec. 15 contest saw the Broncos give up two goals in 41 seconds in the final minute of the second period turning a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 Hawks lead.
The game got off to an excellent start for the Broncos as Derek Patter sent teddy bears raining down from the rafters, scoring his ninth of the year at 6:37.
Unfortunately for the green and gold, the lead lasted barely more than three minutes before Jake Tremblay scored his ninth of the year to tie the score at one after the first period.
After a seemingly quiet second period, the Hawks offense came alive in the final minute as Brett Harasymuk scored his 11th at 19:18, and Michael Grant added his 17th at 19:59, giving the Hawks a 3-1 lead after the second period.
With the Broncos fresh off giving up two goals in the final minute, Broncos head coach Darcy Haugan noted the message at the intermission was to get more pucks to the net, and have more players go to the net.
“It was just having to do that more consistently and work a lot harder and work a lot smarter and just be better at execution.”
Evan Thomas scored his fourth of the year at 5:01 of the third period, but the Broncos could not get any closer as they fell 3-2.
Despite the loss, Haugan was pleased with the way his team bounced back after a poor finish to the second period.
“We showed some resiliency in the third and got it close and could have tied it up.”
It was a quiet night for both teams’ special teams, as they each finished the evening 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
Jacob Wassermann was charged with the loss in the Broncos goal allowing three goals on 32 shots as the Hawks outshot the Broncos 32-20.
Early period goals sink Broncos
A poor start to the second period served as the difference as the Humboldt Broncos dropped a 3-2 decision to the Nipawin Hawks in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Nipawin.
The Dec. 16 contest saw the Broncos give up a pair of goals just 1:01 apart in the first three minutes of the second period turning a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 Hawks lead.
Broncos head coach Darcy Haugan called the game a “carbon copy” of the one played between the two teams from the night prior.
“We’re not real happy. Obviously I feel that we’ve got to get better and we’ve got to find ways to be better and to better focus, better execution. I don’t think we’re that far off but part of it is just I really believe our focus.”
The game got off to a slow start for the Broncos as they gave up the game’s opening goal just 3:26 into the opening period.
Fortunately for the Broncos they were able to tie the game up before the end of the first period as Conner Lukan scored his 11th of the year, sending the game into the first intermission tied at one.
The Hawks then quickly changed the momentum early in the second period as Michael Grant and Austin Mikesch scored at 1:52, and 2:53 respectively to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead after two periods of play.
“It’s not fun when you get scored on and obviously we know that you only have to give up two goals if you want to have a chance to win because you know you’re probably not scoring many more than two,” lamented Haugan of that stretch.
Jaxon Joseph pulled the Broncos back to within one with his 15th of the year at 4:36, but that was as close as the Broncos would come as they failed to score the equalizer and were beaten 3-2 by the Hawks.
Much like the night prior, despite losing, Haugan was at least pleased to see his team keep fighting in the third period.
“We did some better things in the third period and we could have had some opportunities there but with that being said it’s just not good enough,” says Haugan.
“We want to take the next step and we have to get more from everybody involved. We’re at that stage and, like I said to the guys today, I’m tired of looking at our glass half full. I want it to be full and I want us to get better.”
After a quiet night on special teams in Humboldt the night before, which saw the teams combine to go 0-for-6, it was an even quieter night in Nipawin with the Broncos finishing 0-for-2 with the man advantage and the Hawks 0-for-1.
Parker Tobin was charged with the loss in the Broncos goal giving up three goals on 45 shots as the Broncos were outshot 45-20.
The Broncos will look to put an end to their two game losing streak, and head into the holidays on a high note when they visit the Melfort Mustangs on Dec. 22 in their final game before the Christmas holiday.
With the Broncos just one game away from a two-plus week break, Haugan says the key for the players will be to have a sense of pride in their work and do not check out for Christmas holidays.
“If they already want to look at going home then we’ve got the wrong guys here so I guess we’ll find out Friday if we have the right guys or the wrong guys by the effort that we produce.”
Updated: Dec. 21
