Written by Rory McGouran
Its still a long season ahead, but for the first time this year, the Humboldt Broncos are on the outside of the SJHL playoff race following a 5-2 defeat to the Kindersley Klippers on Friday night.
With 25 games played and 31 games remaining, the Broncos latest loss dropped them to a 13-10-1-0 record as they slipped below the playoff line and into 9th place.
Continuity in the win column has been the balancing beam which the Broncos have routinely slipped off over the last 30 days of action. It’s been a month since the Broncos have last won back-to-back games, and only twice have they achieved that feat since October 29th. An overall winning record has still kept them directly in the race of the wild SJHL standings and are still only four points out of second place. However, the inability to stretch wins together means they are not safe by any means.
On Friday, the Broncos built a 2-0 lead early in the second period with both goals coming from defensemen. Ryder Knutson, on a coast-to-coast effort, scored his second of the season, and Oakley McIlwain notched his third of the year off a screened point shot.
Although all of the season’s metrics up to this point when the Broncos score first and control leads have consistently been in their favour, unfortunately, it was not to be.
The Klippers went on to score five unanswered goals, three on the powerplay, and stormed back to complete a 5-2 victory.
Kindersley now holds a 3-1 series lead in the Nutrien division rivalry with four games remaining this season.
The Broncos will stay in the division for the upcoming pair with back-to-back games against the Notre dame Hounds tonight at the EPA, and a neutral site game in Wynyard, SK on Tuesday.
