Excitement, drama, wild games and last second heroes are becoming commonplace inside the Credit Union i-plex this season.
Cody Eakin scored the game-winner with 16.7 seconds to play as the Broncos and Pats appeared destined for overtime.
Brad Hoban made a nice play out of the corner to find Eakin who promptly snapped it upstairs on Pats goaltender Damien Ketlo.
Bronco fans are absolutely in love with this Eakin kid. He could run for mayor Wednesday and win by a landslide. He's upped his play since signing with the Capitals this week. If he keeps playing this way, he may find a spot on the World Junior squad after being a longshot to begin the season. Eakin's 13 goals ties him with Jason Bast of the Moose Jaw Warriors for the WHL lead.
The Pats Jordan Eberle somehow had a breakaway with five seconds to play but was denied by the pad of G Morgan Clark who was again on top of his game making 30 saves for his 2nd win in as many night.
The Broncos improve to 9-1 on home ice after back-to-back wins over division rivals.
Both goaltenders were sensational. Damien Ketlo made 37 saves and was the game's 2nd star.
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What shouldn't be over-looked is that the Broncos won tonight with four WHL raw rookies on defense. - three of them 16 years old after calling up Nathan Zimbaluk from "AAA" Tisdale.
This really is a statement for this group. I have to say I'm impressed. The big minutes in key situations is going to pay off for years to come for the likes of Reece Scarlett, Graeme Craig, Brody Luhning and to some extent Zimbaluk who found himself on the ice a couple times against the Pats big line.
Assistant Coach Tim Kehler is doing a bang-up job with that group.
Over-age captain Derek Claffey logged a lot of minutes and was out there almost every time Jordan Eberle hopped over the boards.
The Broncos were without Eric Doyle and Jordan Evans who were both out with concussion.
More tomorrow, but I'll leave you with this. A quick look at the Eastern Conference standings and you see the top seven teams have combined for a remarkable 19 straight wins. The bottom five teams have combined for 15 straight losses.
Jon
3 comments:
In regards to the standings...I really don't see the Top 6 teams in the east chaging come seasons end. The order may change a bit, but after watching about 1/5 of the season those are clearly the top teams and they likely will continue to separate unless PA decides to join.
Wow a game! I'm impressed with depth of our young defensive core. When you can bring up a 16 year old like Nathan Zimbaluk and have him fit in perfectly. Sure he had limited time on the ice, but he made an impact with his time. A nice pass to set up the first goal, stuffing Eberle on a 1 on 1, the breaking up a 2-1 on a bad line change...our future looks good!!!!
Yes, I made note of all three of those Zimbaluk plays. Quite remarkable to see the four rookies stepping in and doing a great job.
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