Penalty kill the difference in Broncos’ win over Flin Flon
The Humboldt Broncos picked up an extremely critical two points in hostile territory as they knocked off the Flin Flon Bombers 3-2 on Feb. 24 in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action.
The game got off to an ugly start for the Broncos as they gave up a pair of goals in the first 5:33 of the period and found themselves shorthanded just 25 seconds after the second Bombers goal.
The Broncos managed to kill the penalty off, which was a major turning point in the game, says Broncos captain Logan Schatz.
“We go down 3-0 there if they score on that power play it’s probably game over but we battled hard, we got that kill and we go on and we kill another seven other power plays off.”
Shortly after killing the penalty off Broncos defenseman Connor Swystun got the Broncos on the board, as Trevor Posch and Michael Korol followed suit turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead, with all three goals coming with a 6:20 stretch.
Schatz was especially pleased to see that three out of the four Broncos lines chipped in with a goal, noting it will be a big benefit for the Broncos in the playoffs.
“It’s tough to win hockey games when you’ve only got one line scoring or one or two… when you have three lines going on one night its’ hard to stop a team like that so hopefully we can keep that going.”
A big difference in the game was the Broncos’ penalty kill, which held the league leading Bombers to one goal on ten opportunities.
“We just battled. I think we out worked them. That’s the key on the penalty kill, you’ve got to out work your opponent. We weren’t quite ready on that first one but after that the guys got dialed in,” says Schatz.
“We knew how hard we had to compete and we wanted those two points and we needed those two points.”
Broncos open up four point lead for fifth
The Humboldt Broncos wrapped up a tough two game’s in two night’s northern road trip with a 2-1 victory over the La Ronge Ice Wolves in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action on Feb. 25.
“That’s a grueling road trip,” said Broncos captain Logan Schatz. “That’s a tough couple of hours on the bus and two tough rinks to win in.”
Schatz says that both teams play so well in their own barn so they are thankful for the cushion going into fifth spot.
Dawson Atamanchuk opened the scoring for the Broncos less than four minutes into the first period and Brett Horn put the Broncos ahead for good with his 13th of the season at 11:22 of the third.
“It was a big goal by Horn, a great play by Young and Elder cycling the puck,” said Schatz.
The Broncos had a number of Grade A scoring chances throughout the game but they stuck with it and continued to tell themselves not to get frustrated, said Schatz.
“We had a lot of chances we probably could have buried and we might have been gripping our sticks a little tight in the 1-1 hockey game but nonetheless we got the job done and we stuck with it in the third period and we wore them down.”
Garrett Mason was spectacular in the Broncos goal turning aside 34 shots to wrap up the weekend with 93 saves.
That was huge for the team, says Schatz, who notes Mason is starting to hit his stride at the right time after he struggled earlier in the season, just like the rest of the team.
“He’s working hard in practice and off the ice. I’m happy for him to get rewarded with a big weekend. Hopefully we can maybe start helping him out a little bit more and maybe get him a few less shots in those types of games. But he’s been huge for us down the stretch.”
The Broncos now head into a crucial home-and-home series with the Notre Dame Hounds, March 3 in Wilcox and March 4 at the EPA, with the Hounds trailing the Broncos by just four points in the league standings.
Heading into those contests Schatz admits the power play is going to be a big area of focus after struggling mightily over the last six games going 0/25. The struggle is there, says Schatz, it is just a matter of not getting frustrated and staying positive.
“We need to get that power play clicking and hopefully we can and that can sure help us out in the long playoff run,” said Schatz.
