Joel Hofer made 44 saves to backstop the Swift Current Broncos to a fourth straight overtime on home ice.

Reese Johnson scored a minute in to the extra frame as Red Deer came away with the 3-2 win to wrap up their eastern road swing.

Max Patterson and Ben King each had a goal and an assist as the Broncos took a 2-0 lead. Red Deer then grabbed the game and seemed to own the puck for most of the second and third period.

"We need more from everyone," Patterson said. "Joel held us in there real good. He played awesome and made some key saves. Everyone just needs to contribute a bit more."



The Broncos were glad to get the point, but didn't feel they performed at the level they expect.

"We got a point which is a positive," said Broncos assistant coach Brandin Cote. "I don't think we were really happy with our effort in the last couple nights... we just had a few too many passengers... we just couldn't find our legs. We couldn't find any energy or emotion. Credit to the fact that we held on to get a point, but we can be much better."

Hofer was very good again holding firm against a barrage of shots in the first ten minutes of the second period and much of the third. He has maintained a .900 save percentage despite facing an average of over 43 shots per game in 15 starts.

"Our goaltenders have both been really good all year," Cote said. "We have to somehow take a little bit of pressure off them. It's not our structure... we're improved, but at the same time we're 21 games into the season and we need more consistent efforts from some guys."



Ben King opened the scoring with a quick release on a shot low blocker on Byron Fancy for his 4th goal of the season. Patterson set him up nicely at the top of the slot for the scoring chance and the Broncos carried a 1-0 lead after a relatively even first period.

Patterson then extended that lead early in the second period when he took a rebound to the net and banked it in off Rebels defenceman Carson Sass for his 5th of the season.

That's when the Rebels asserted control of the game. They quickly struck back 47 seconds later when Zak Smith scored on a rebound to close the gap to 2-1 and fired puck after puck towards Hofer for the rest of the game.

Swift Current went from 9 shots in the first period to only 3 in the second and 5 in the third. They had one stretch of almost 23 minutes without counting a shot on net.

"It starts in our own end," Patterson said. "We've got to be more clean. There's no excuses for not getting any shots for twenty minutes. We've got to bear down and gets some pucks on net."

That's something the Broncos feel comes from their level of compete as well.

"We just have to be more competitive in practice," Cote said. "We have to funnel more pucks to the net and then we have to have the puck more. In order to do that we have to close gaps better in our defensive zone. Make more plays. Ultimately we have to have the will and drive."



Swift Current did a good job on their penalty  kill in the second period slowing Red Deer's attack and seemed poised to carry their 2-1 lead into the intermission. That's when Smith set Josh Tarzwell up off the rush and he ripped a great shot by Hofer in the final minute of the second period to tie the game.

Red Deer continued to put the pressure on early in the third period and Hofer stood his ground. The Broncos got pushing back again late in the third and came close on a couple of surges in the Rebels zone including a great chance for Ethan O'Rourke with 16 seconds left in regulation.

Johnson then quickly won the game in overtime by getting his own rebound twice before slipping the third shut under Hofer.

Swift Current was again without Matthew Stanley who missed all three weekend games sick. Eric Houk also missed the game after being injured in a fight yesterday in Regina. Owen Blocker and Garrett Sambrook were both back in the lineup after minor injuries kept them out of Saturday's contest.

The Broncos lost all three games in a three-in-three this weekend, but managed a point today and have been much improved on home ice. They've taken four straight games at home to overtime and sit 2-4-1-1 at the Innovation Credit Union iPlex. Their -8 plus/minus at home is significantly better than the -40 on the road.

Swift Current can build on their success on home ice as they have just started a five game home stand that will continue Wednesday against the Tri-City Americans.