Stuart Skinner delivered one of the most spectacular goaltending performances in Memorial Cup history, but it wasn't enough as the WHL Champion Swift Current Broncos fell 2-1 to the OHL Champion Hamilton Bulldogs.

Skinner stopped 54 shots including many high quality Bulldog chances to give his team a ray of hope against Hamilton.

"Without Stu tonight the score could have gotten out of hand real quick," said Broncos Head Coach/Director of Player Personnel Manny Viveiros. "We were frustrated and even more the kids on the bench. We were working hard but nothing was going right. They weren't working the right way... but the kids were working hard. We tried."

The 54 stops were second most in Memorial Cup history and kept things interesting down the stretch. Tied at 1 late in the third period the Broncos hit a post on Glenn Gawdin's shot from his off wing only moments before Marian Studenic scored as he fluttered the puck off a one-timer that hampered Skinner's timing.

It took two one-timers that came awkwardly off sticks for Hamilton to solve a locked-in Skinner on this night.

"It was a difficult game," Skinner said. "They played the right way and they wanted it a lot more than we wanted it tonight... I want to win this thing really badly and I know my team does too. We can make lots of excuses I'm sure, but I think we just need to make sure that we come out harder to play. When we show up I believe no team can beat us."

The Bulldogs raved about the play of the Broncos goalie, but despite throwing everything they had at the net and getting no rewards, Hamilton stayed positive as the game wore on.

"He played a great game and he stood on his head for them, but we had a ton of chances and we knew that eventually we'd get one in," said Bulldogs star Robert Thomas, who was stopped in tight by Skinner on a number of scoring opportunities over the course of the night.

"We had so many great chances and he can only stop so many pucks before one goes in, so we just kept putting them on the net."

The Broncos pride themselves on playing a quick game and making quick decisions when they are at their best. On this occasion they couldn't match Hamilton in that department.

"Hamilton was just so much quicker than us tonight," Viveiros said. "They played faster. They won the puck battles and got out of the zone really quick. We were just a step behind tonight... we had full possession and just weren't able to make quick plays. Hamilton played a really good hockey game. They came after us and we weren't able to match their speed."

The Bulldogs got an early 5 on 3 opportunity on an Aleksi Heponiemi high stick and Artyom Minulin delay of game penalty. Swift Current killed the penalties down to the final four seconds before Ryan Moore busted through the neutral zone with speed and got a quick low shot on Skinner for a rebound that MacKenzie Entwistle was able to convert. It was a one-timer that just fluttered by Skinner for a 1-0 Hamilton lead.

Swift Current survived the first period only down 1-0 thanks to 21 Skinner saves and were able to strike in the second period on a Colby Sissons power play goal. Sissons was just able to get a quick wrist shot through traffic and it was a tie game heading to the third.

The Bulldogs just kept coming and were finally able to solve Skinner on another fluttered one-timer late.

The win puts the Bulldogs at 1-1 during the tournament and sets up a big showdown with 2-0 Acadie-Bathurst on Tuesday that could determine the bye into Sunday's final.

"This is championship-type hockey, there's really good hockey teams here and sometimes you've just got to keep grinding, grinding, grinding and find a way to win and a lot of credit to our players, who stuck to a game plan and executed it and got it done when it mattered the most," said Bulldogs head coach John Gruden.

Swift Current is now 0-2 at the Memorial Cup and face elimination on Wednesday against the host Regina Pats. If the Broncos win they advance to at  least a tie-breaker. A loss would end their season.

"We win a game and we're fine," said Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin. "We've got to fix it. Obviously we're doing some things wrong that we've got to change and get ready for Wednesday."

Tyler Steenbergen didn't play in tonight's game and Manny Viveiros noted he was again a game-time decision for Wednesday.