In the biggest game of the season, the Humboldt Broncos rose to the occasion with one of their best all-around performances, blanking the Melville Millionaires 3-0.
With the victory, the Broncos moved back into a tie with the Millionaires for the final playoff spot in the SJHL standings at 36 points, with Humboldt owning a game in hand.
Owen Chapman opened the scoring, taking advantage of a two-on-one rush and firing a shot top shelf for his fourth goal of the year.
The Broncos benefited from another odd-man rush in the second period, this time a three-on-two break, as Tyce Penrod dropped a pass back to Nathan Da Silva, who buried his second goal as a member of the green and gold to give Humboldt a 2-0 lead.
Penrod finished off the scoring, knocking in a loose rebound as the Broncos skated away with a 3-0 win.
Brady Holtvogt enjoyed another solid night in the crease for the Broncos, making 26 saves.
Both Penrod (1G-1A) and Rylan Hue (0G-2A) had multi-point nights.
Following the game, Associate Coach Carter Hansen said it was a complete effort.
“That was probably our best 60 minutes, maybe the whole year. That was just fantastic from start to finish. You can almost maybe go back two years.”
He added that the Broncos’ momentum began with an aggressive approach by Chapman on the two-on-one.
“We’ve been telling these guys to shoot the puck a little bit more instead of trying to make plays.”
Hansen felt it was truly a team effort on Saturday, noting players who didn’t register on the scoresheet, like Oliver Phillips and AJ Paulsen, had strong nights on the ice.
With a younger lineup and the defencemen doing a good job moving the puck out of the zone, Hansen said that’s how the Broncos created the odd-man situations they capitalized on.
“Now we’ve got speed,” he said. “That’s where we’re getting our two-on-ones and three-on-twos — supporting the puck, making good, hard plays out of the zone, filling lanes, and then attacking off the rush.”
After taking a combined 21 penalties in their previous three games, the Broncos showed discipline on Saturday, going short-handed just three times and killing off all three penalties.
Humboldt also claimed the season series against Melville with the win, which could be used as a tiebreaker if the two teams are tied at the end of the season. (Regulation and overtime wins serve as the first tiebreaker.)
The Broncos will look to carry the momentum into Tuesday night when they host the Battleford North Stars at the Elgar Petersen Arena.
Coverage on Bolt FM and discoverhumboldt.com begins at 7:15 p.m., with puck drop scheduled for 7:30.
Blaine Weyland – Discover Humboldt
