Glenn Gawdin scored midway through the third overtime as his Swift Current Broncos pushed the WHL's  top regular season team to the brink of elimination.

The Swift Current captain deflected in the rebound of a Ryley Lindgren shot out of mid-air for a 5-4 win over Regina after almost five hours of hockey.

“Almost relief,” Gawdin said. “A lot of excitement and emotion. It felt great to get the win it's a huge win for our team.”

The Broncos now have command of a series against the favoured Pats with a 3-1 lead. It's a position most experts didn't have them in.

“It's us trying to prove everybody wrong,” Gawdin said. “We're comfortable and confident in our team. Beating these guys is almost a statement right now, but we've still got one game to go.”

The game had a share of ups and downs throughout the night with big momentum swings and some very close calls.

“A real special game,” said Broncos associate coach Ryan Smith. “We were a little down in the first period. Our energy wasn't there and we were a little sleepy. They took advantage and they played their hearts out. They were the better team in the first period by far, but good it was in the first period as it gave us a chance to wake up and get going.”

Scatted fans filtered out of the sold out crowd at some point throughout the nearly five-hour game, but a strong majority contingent cheered on the home team right up to a big ovation for Gawdin's game winner.

“Thankful for the crowd sticking around cheering us and giving us that extra boost,” Lindgren said. “I'm pretty speechless right now. We've got unbelievable fans and I'm so blessed to be playing in Swift Current here.”

Lindgren scored twice and added two assists in leading the offensive attack for Swift Current on the night.

“We've got to give credit to every guy in our dressing room,” Lindgren said. “Blocking shots, making hits, all the little plays you know it adds up and worked out tonight. It really showed the heart and character of our room and it's an unbelievable feeling right now.”

Still without the services of captain Adam Brooks and forward Fillip Ahl, Dawson Leedahl stepped up and scored twice in the first period as the Pats took early command of the game outshooting the Broncos 15-6 and leading 2-0.

The Broncos then lost forward Kaden Elder as Pats defenceman Liam Schioler caught him with a check up high and Elder did not return. Swift Current goaltender Jordan Papirny had to make a big stop at the end of the period to slow Regina's momentum and allow his team to regroup in the intermission within striking distance.

“I think just trying to get back to our game,” Gawdin said. “We know we can play with these guys, we know we can beat these guys and that's just our mindset... that hit on (Elder) was unfortunate he's a big part of our team and we played for him too.”

It was a totally different Broncos team in the second period as they completely controlled the play outshooting Regina 19-8 and coming back to tie the game. Lindgren converted a Tyler Steenbergen pass on a one-timer before Artyom Minulin fired in the rebound of an Arthur Miller shot that had missed the net in the final minute of the period.

“First minute goals and last minute goals are game changers,” Smith said. “For us heading into the third period tied instead of down one was huge. I felt we established a forecheck in the second period that caused both goals. We were better in the second.”

The Pats struck again with another Leedahl goal for his hat trick early in the third period. Steenbergen responded quickly as the WHL's leading goal scorer busted down the right wing and with a defender in between him and the net used one hand on the stick to lift the puck by Pats goaltender Tyler Brown.

Lindgren then gave the Broncos a late lead with 2:25 to go in the third period as he flew down the right wing and ripped his second of the game by Brown to send the Swift Current crowd into a frenzy. Despite an attempt at the empty net and a mostly strong defensive battle when Regina went 6 on 5, the Pats were still able to force overtime when Steel passed a puck off Leedahl's skate for the veteran's fourth goal of the game. The tying goal came with just over twenty seconds left in regulation and sucked the wind temporarily out of an excited Credit Union iPlex.

“That hurts because you are so close to winning,” Smith said. “You've got to move on and you've got to get ready for overtime. The message is to stick to the plan. There's no secret recipe in overtime as far as special plays and that. It's tight and it could be a bounce here and a bounce there.”

It was the third overtime of the series and the first forced by Regina. While the game took until the third overtime to reach a conclusion, there were still any number of excellent chances leading up to that final goal. The Broncos outshot the Pats 37-31 over the three overtimes as both goaltenders battled to keep their team alive. In total both clubs fired 69 shots on goal over the marathon game.

“You can't even put into words how unbelievable Jordan (Papirny) has been for us,” Lindgren said. “Paps has been our rock and our backbone. We play with so much confidence in front of him. He's a great guy to have on your side.”

There were many tense moments in overtime including Chase Harrison hitting the post for Regina and both teams coming within inches of a winning goal. Neither club gave up many second chances in front of their net as they showed excellent battle defensively.

“It's unbelievable,” Gawdin noted “Every guy in that room wants to win and is buying in and doing what they can for this team to win. Tonight we stuck with it throughout and got the win.”

The referees mostly put their whistles away in overtime outside of two calls they were basically forced to make. Josh Mahura was nabbed for clearing the puck over the glass on a delay of game that Regina killed early in overtime. Midway through the third OT period Connor Hobbs had his stick break on a clearing attempt and threw his body into Broncos forward Kole Gable in order to prevent any scoring chances on the turnover. Hobbs' penalty would lead to the Swift Current win.

With only seconds left on the power play, Lindgren whipped a shot on goal from the left face-off dot and Gawdin was able to knock the puck out of mid-air behind Brown for his fourth goal of the playoffs.

“When you get a PP in overtime you should use that,” Gawdin said. “If we get one we had to try to make the most of it. That's the biggest power play we've had. It's been kind of struggling a little but we've been getting good looks. Six seconds left it doesn't matter as long as it went in.”

Now Swift Current has an opportunity to eliminate the Pats on Friday in Regina. They are very close to a trip to the Eastern Conference final, but the Broncos recognize how easily it could have gone the other way.

“We're happy with the position we're in after four games,” Smith said. “Every game has been tight besides game two. Three overtimes all gone our way. We're not by any means thinking this series is done or they're going to quit. Our goal is to go in Friday and get that fourth win. We should learn from the Moose Jaw series we had a lead and it took us a game longer than we wish we could of. We know it's not going to be easy as they're the number one team in the country for a reason. They proved it all season and they proved it tonight. They were outstanding tonight.”

There will now be two days off to rest after almost two games worth of hockey in one night and time to prepare for the next step in the series. That doesn't mean the Broncos will alter their game plan.

“I don't think we change too much,” Smith said. “We just keep going the way we have in the first four games. Stay disciplined, be direct with our plays and take advantage of our chances when we can. Tonight Brown was outstanding and (Papirny) was good again. It's going to take something like the winning goal with a shot deflection out of the air. We won't change much.”

The victory came sixteen years to the day after Ben Ondrus scored to lift the Broncos to a triple overtime marathon win over Kootenay in 2001.

Game five is set for Regina on Friday. If the Pats can win to the extend the series it would return to Swift Current for game six on Saturday.