The Regina Pats offence came to life in game two as they took advantage of ten power play opportunities in a 6-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos.

Austin Wagner scored twice leading the way for Regina as they evened the series with the Broncos 1-1 going back to Swift Current on Monday and Tuesday.

“We didn't play that great,” said Broncos associate coach Ryan Smith. “We got off to a decent start, but you take a lot of penalties and it taxes your top guys and puts you on your heels. That kind of swung it their way.”

Penalties dominated the game as the teams combined for fifteen minors and enough penalty time to cover half of the sixty minute clock. The Broncos were shorthanded twice as often and especially felt the impact of that when Regina scored three goals to turn the game around in the second period.

“One is too many men and one is subject to debate,” Smith said. “The other ones we shoot ourselves in the foot. We hold to the puck too long, we take the puck the wrong route... it just wasn't a good game for us tonight. Disappointed with the way things went.”

The Broncos went from taking one penalty in game one to being in the box for almost a full period in game two. They know they will have to make some improvements.

“I think we just got to move our feet better,” Steenbergen said. “Some of the calls we might not agree with but that's what happens. We gotta build off that and try and stay out of the box the next game.”

A positive for the Broncos came from their power play which struck twice in the first period to give Swift Current an early 2-1 lead. Steenbergen and Max Lajoie had the Broncos goals which saw them make some big strides after going 0 for 6 the night before.

“Puck movement and trying to get shots on net,” Steenbergen noted. “We tried to be a little bit too fancy the other night. We went over it in video and the second time around I thought it was a pretty good power play.”

Jonathan Smart opened the scoring on a pretty passing play he deflected under Jordan Papirny. Pats Captain Adam Brooks left the game limping after the goal and did not return. The Pats were also without import forward Filip Ahl who was a late scratch.

Lajoie responded with a power play point shot that evaded Tyler Brown with traffic in front. Steenbergen gave the Broncos the lead to finish the first period, burying a rebound near the goal-line after an Aleksi Heponiemi shot for the second power play goal of the period for the Broncos.

Power play goals shifted to the Regina Pats favour in the second period. Connor Hobbs tied the game only 43 seconds into the second period. Five minutes later, good puck movement allowed Josh Mahura to sneak a puck through Papirny eventually being tapped in by Nick Henry to give the Pats a lead the would not relinquish.

Austin Wagner made it a 4-2 score with just over five minutes left in the second period stealing a puck in the Swift Current zone to finish what was a big run for Regina to turn the game in their favour.

Robbie Holmes added another to 1:30 into the final period finding a lose puck on a scramble and going upstairs to nearly put the game out of reach. Wagner finished it off with an empty-net goal late.

Jordan Papirny made 34 saves as Regina outshot the Broncos 40-17. The Pats went 2 for 10 on the man advantage, while the Broncos were 2 for 5.

Despite the loss the Broncos were able to earn a split in Regina and take control of home ice advantage. That doesn't mean they were satisfied with just the win on Thursday.

“I wouldn't say that after tonight,” Smith said. “You're only as good as your last game. Yes we got the split that's great for the series, but if we play like that this won't be a long series. We need to pick up our game. We need to find our game the way we did in the second half of the first game and in the first round.”

While Swift Current isn't happy with their performance on this night, they continue to strongly believe they can push Regina to the limit and win the series.

“We're always going to believe we can beat them,” Steenbergen said. “But it's the full sixty minute efforts that counts. We need that against these guys because we know they're a force. We've gotta stay out of the box because their offence is so heavy.”

Going back home to the Credit Union iPlex in front of two likely sold out crowds will also give the club a short of adrenaline.

“We're going to be all positive,” Steenbergen said. “The fans are going to be on our backs again. They're going to be loud and they're going to be great for us. We've got to take that and use it to our advantage.”