They got off to a shaky start, but soon found their footing.
The Humboldt Broncos were in somewhat of a must-win situation last week heading into Game 3 of their series against the Melfort Mustangs.
If they wanted to keep the momentum going from their Game 2 win in Melfort the weekend before, they really needed to score big over the Mustangs at home on March 12.
And they did.
The Broncos scored a huge 7-1 victory over the 'Stangs, in front of a crowd of over 700 fans, which included a large number who had made the trek south from Melfort.
John Lawrence started off the scoring with a short-handed goal at 6:31 of the first, assisted by Dylan Fluter.
Melfort soon tied things up at one with a goal by Anthony Pickering, assisted by David Heath and Matt Saunderson at 10:16.
But when a couple of teammates effectively screened the sightlines of Mustangs netminder Jesse Wilkins, blueliner Braeden LaRoque was able to give Humboldt back their lead with a goal at 11:46, assisted by Logan Sproule and David Miazga.
Another goal by Joey Davies, off a pass by Cody Pongracz at 15:38 added another to Humboldt's total, giving them a comfortable two-goal lead. Alex Forsberg got the other assist on the point.
But the Broncos didn't just leave it at that.
After a somewhat lackluster second period, in which no scoring occurred, Davies came back hard in the third period, scoring two power-play points in less than three minutes to get a hat trick on the night.
His first goal of the third got past Wilkins just 37 seconds in, and his second, at 2:23. Sproule and David Stumborg got the assists on the first point, and Forsberg and Sproule on the second.
With Wilkins completely falling apart, Carter Page got the Broncos' sixth goal of the night at 6:14, assisted by Kameren Ballas and Rhett Blackmur. Finally, Miazga got the seventh at 6:23, assisted by Justin Lund.
Melfort finally yanked Wilkins out of the net at that point, throwing in backup goaltender Patrick Johnson, who blocked the three shots on goal he faced in the rest of the period.
When the dust settled, the Broncos outshot the Mustangs 51 to 28, and were two for four on the power play, while the Mustangs were zero for five.
The story was a little different the next night, when the Broncos took on the Mustangs in front of 750 fans at the Northern Lights Palace in Melfort.
The Broncos still outshot the 'Stangs, but not by much (28 to 25).
And they were still able to win - but the Mustangs put up a heck of a fight.
Melfort got off to an early lead, scoring twice in the last half of the first period.
The Broncos didn't score until Joey Davies got an opportunity at 1:52 of the second. Alex Forsberg and Logan Sproule assisted on the point.
Melfort took back their two-goal lead with a point at 17:35, but Bronco Dylan Fluter brought it within one again with a power-play goal at the eighteen-minute mark, assisted by Kameren Ballas and Cody Pettapiece.
The third period once again belonged to Humboldt.
Adam Antkowiak tied the game at 2:45 with a point assisted by Pettapiece and Fluter.
Then David Stumborg struck, scoring at 3:41 with a helper from David Miazga.
That gave Humboldt a 4-3 lead.
Things were getting tense as the third period wore on. Finally, Melfort yanked goaltender Jesse Wilkins in favour of an extra attacker. But that didn't work out.
Justin Lund of Humboldt got an empty-netter with just 10 seconds left in the game, securing Humboldt's 5-3 win.
The victory put Humboldt up three games to one in the series.
