Mistakes prove costly in Broncos' loss to Hounds
The Humboldt Broncos watched valuable points fly out the window in their 5-3 loss to the Notre Dame Hounds in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Wilcox.
The Feb. 2 loss was particularly costly for the Broncos as it saw the Hounds pull to within one point of the Broncos for fifth in league standings.
Broncos head coach Darcy Haugan admitted he was not happy to see his club lose, but says he felt they did a lot of good things.
鈥淲e just found ourselves pulling the puck out of our net five times but I thought we got better as the game went on and I thought we played with a lot of speed and a lot of pace and we adjusted well but we just made one too many mistakes.鈥�
The contest got off to a tough start for the Broncos as Max Salpeter found the back of the net just 6:52 in to give the Hounds an early 1-0 lead.
After Jacob Leicht scored his fifth of the season to pull the Broncos into a tie, the Hounds responded with two more as Jared Hamm and Ahmed Ally both scored to give the Hounds a 3-1 lead after the first period, despite the Broncos outshooting the home side 15-12.
Logan Schatz responded with his 18th of the year to cut the Broncos;鈥� deficit to two, but the Hounds then added two more as Curtis Weibe scored twice to give the Hounds a 5-2 lead after two periods.
Jaxon Joseph added a third period marker for the Broncos but that was as close as they would get.
Despite giving up three in the first, and two more in the second, Haugan noted he felt like his club was still very much in the game after both periods.
鈥淚 felt that we were just a bounce away from getting back. Our guys showed a lot of resiliency and determination to battle and we only held them to five shots in the third period. They had a tough time handling our speed and obviously that was indicative with the number of power plays that we had.鈥�
The power play was a major concern for the Broncos in the contest as they finished just 1-for-7.
Haugan was quick to give the Hounds credit for shutting the Broncos down on the power play, noting they are a very strong penalty killing team at home, but says a lot of their problems were caused by themselves.
鈥淕uy鈥檚 confidence aren鈥檛 there. They鈥檙e not seeing what they need to be seeing so we just have to go back to the drawing board. We鈥檝e got a lot of skill and a lot of talent. Sometimes you just need a break, you just need one to ricochet the right way.鈥�
Jacob Wassermann was charged with the loss in the Broncos goal allowing five goals on 25 shots as the Broncos outshot the Hounds 33-25.
Early goals lead Broncos to win over Bruins
The Humboldt Broncos bounced back in a big way knocking off the Estevan Bruins 5-2 in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Humboldt.
The Feb. 3 win was an important one for the Broncos who bounced back from a tough 5-3 loss to the Notre Dame Hounds the night prior.
鈥淭hat was awesome. The boys needed this win after losing that four point game and the way the guys came out tonight is huge,鈥� noted Broncos forward Jaxon Joseph.
The green and gold wasted little time getting on the board as Evan Thomas scored his fifth of the season, making a nifty move on a breakaway, to give the home side a 1-0 lead 3:17 in.
Jaxon Joseph added his 25th of the year, and fifth in his last five games, to give the Broncos a 2-0 lead just 7:08 into the opening period.
Getting that early 2-0 lead was huge, noted Joseph, especially against Estevan.
鈥淭he Bruins like to come out hot right off the start and scoring those two first goals just shut them down quick.鈥�
Unfortunately for the green and gold they were unable to hold the lead through the end of the period as Arthur Miller scored a power play marker to cut the Broncos鈥� lead to 2-1.
The home side was unfazed however, and immediately went to work dominating a pair of shifts and were ultimately rewarded as Brayden Camrud scored his 13th of the year to send the home side into the first intermission ahead 3-1.
Joseph called that an important goal, noting it was a real momentum changer.
鈥淢omentum鈥檚 the key to the game and as soon as the Bruins lost theirs they were done and that gave us a huge advantage for the rest of the period.鈥�
Unfortunately for the home side, despite having four power plays, they were unable to find the back of the net as Hayden Guilderson scored the lone goal of the period, sending the two teams into the second intermission with the Broncos ahead 3-2.
The Broncos were able to recover in the third as a Logan Hunter goal at 2:54 regained the home side鈥檚 two goal edge.
The green and gold then held the fort from there as Nick Shumlanski added a late empty net goal to give the Broncos the win, their second in five days against the Bruins.
Parker Tobin picked up the win in the Broncos goal, turning aside 31 of the 33 shots he faced as the Broncos outshot the Bruins 36-33.
The green and gold will look to improve to 8-2 in their last ten games when they return to action on Feb. 9 for a home matchup against the Weyburn Red Wings.
