The Swift Current Broncos - riding a three game winning streak, sitting atop the Eastern Conference and boasting two consecutive shut-outs by two different goalies walked into the Giants den ready to play. The first period was more of a chess match as the two teams felt each other out and tested each others boundaries. The Giants - who were riding a seven game winning streak and boasting an undefeated streak this season as well as a shut-out win last night, were equal to the task. The Broncos proved that there was a reason they were top of their conference as they played a very strong period clearing the puck out of the front of their net before the Giants could get to the rebounds and using their prodigious team speed to work the G-Men in their own end of the rink.

The Broncos opened the scoring after weathering a boat-load of penalties being doled out by two whistle happy officials who seem to think it was their job to call the invisible as well as the visible and assess additional penalties just because their feelings were hurt. The goal came with less than a minute to go in the first and despite the extreme officiating it was very good hockey all around. On the PP, defenseman Dane Crowley fed the puck down low at the side of the Giants net and Jeremy Schenderling batted the puck short-side past Sexsmith for what proved to be the Broncos only tally of the evening. Eleven penalties were assessed in the first , 6 for Swift Current and 5 for the Giants, had the respective teams penalty killing units not been so sharp it could have been a crazy shooting gallery.

The parade to the penalty box continued early on in the second, but the first goal for the Giants came 4 on 4. Brett Festerling dove and intercepted a Bronco pass at his blue-line sending Michal Repik off with the loose biscuit. Repik drove into the zone and cut across the crease half fell on one knee and roofed the puck over Kyle Moir to tie the game and swing the momentum toward the home team. Moir had been spectacular up until that point in the game and had kept his team in the game in the first and continued to turn away great scoring chances for the G-Men with excellent lateral moves and quick hands, but his luck ran out in the second period. The Giants padded the lead four minutes later, on the PP, when Cody Franson threw a shot at the net and JD Watt got a piece of the puck before Mario Bliznak buried the loose biscuit in the back of the 6 x 4. The G-Men were not done scoring as they went up by two just under two minutes later. Once again on the PP, wily winger Michal Repik made some nice moves to keep possession of the puck and fed Tim Kraus down low. Kraus fed the puck across the crease to find defenseman Jonny Blum who had snuck in from the point, notching his 3rd of the campaign with a quick snapshot which got past Moir. The Giants peppered the Bronco net with 17 shots in the second and Moir turned aside 14 of them.

The third felt positively wide-open as the whistles had found their way into the pockets even though similar hockey was being played. The Giants were able to play their best game by rolling four lines and keeping the Broncos pinned mostly in their own end. John Flatters who seemed to be the ref’s whipping boy on this evening was tagged for tripping five minutes into the final stanza, but the Broncos couldn’t muster enough of an attack against the stifling Giants defense and gave up a few chances short-handed in the process.

The penalty box gates opened at 9:03 though as Craig Cunningham was tagged for a check from behind which from my point of view was a clean shoulder to shoulder check and the player being checked had his head down and was standing a few feet from the boards. A battle ensued with Garet Hunt stepping in and taking on a much larger opponent in the form of 6’6” 218lb Karl Benke and mostly had a bit of a wrestling match before Garet ended up getting the take down. Hunt got tagged for instigating, roughing and fighting plus a 10 min misconduct for sticking up for his team-mate. The rest of period it was clear that the Broncos had lost their heart in the game and were more interested in finishing quickly than trying to score. However, with a late penalty on Festerling they pulled their goalie and went 6 on 4 for the rest of the game. The Giants played a patient game, had quick sticks and would simply ice the puck whenever it got near them and they ran the Saskatchewan visitors out of time.

Sexsmith wasn’t busy but he had to make some decent stops to preserve his team’s lead and keep them in the game when they were down. Kyle Moir faced 40 Giants shots, allowed three goals against and he had a great game between the pipes but in the end, as with so many other solid ‘tenders the G-Men have faced, it just wasn’t enough. The two referees Chris Savage and Sean Raphael were simply brutal, punishing any hard check with a penalty and stifling the physical aspect of the game. This is not what was intended by the crack-down and we’ve already seen enough games already where referees are not punishing aggressive play, but still managing to call the infractions which would normally slow down the game, that this simply was a travesty in my opinion. Despite the parade to the box the game itself ended up being a lively affair as players took checks where they could and both squads skated hard and had excellent positioning.

The G-Men were 2 for 12 on the PP, while the broncos managed just 1 on their 14 chances. The shots were 40 for the Giants and 14 for the Swift Current squad. The Giants next tilt is on Thanksgiving Monday out in Chilliwack at Prospera Centre. The puck drops at 2pm.

Three Stars
1 – Michal Repik
2 – Tim Kraus
3 – Kyle Moir