Written by: Rory McGouran
Photo by: Marla Possberg
The fans at the Elgar Petersen Arena were treated to quite a show on Saturday night.
In an amazing comeback and team effort, the Humboldt Broncos erased a three-goal deficit and picked up a 6-5 victory over the Yorkton Terriers, securing 3 out of a possible 4 points over the weekend home and home set.
The Broncos were nowhere to be found in the first period and seemed to have left their compete-level in Yorkton the night prior. The Terriers scored three goals in the opening 6 minutes, forcing Head Coach, Scott Barney to make a goalie change following the second goal, pulling Noah Decottignies in favour of Brendan Forman.
Once the Broncos stopped the bleeding, they woke up in the second period and controlled the game from there on out. Logan Kurki scored for the third straight game to get the Broncos on the board, and Luke Spadafora scored his first goal since rejoining the team on December 1st to cut the Terrier’s lead to 3-2.
The third period led to more of the same. You could feel the energy inside the EPA circling, and in turn, spurring the Broncos along, leading to Max Gudnason tying the game with his 7th of the year. Spadafora then scored his second of the game to make it 4-3 and give the Broncos their first lead. Kurki wasted no time picking up his second goal on the power play to provide some cushion, and Tristan Shewchuck completed a four-goal in seven minute span with his 18th of the year. After the Terrier’s Evan Sare scored with four minutes remaining, their captain, and runaway MVP of the league, Chantz Petric scored his 50th goal of the year in just his 43rd game. Petruic’s remarkable accomplishment, however, come too late with only three seconds left on the board, and the Broncos skated away to a 6-5 victory in front of a standing ovation from the crowd.
As the Broncos slumped to just one win in their previous eight games, they will look to use the momentum and team effort from this victory to propel them forward in a very tight SJHL playoff race with 20 games remaining.
Up next, the Broncos will host the Ag Risk Division rival, Notre Dame Hounds on Tuesday, January 7th.