The Swift Current Broncos twice came within a goal of erasing a 3-0 Moose Jaw lead before falling 5-3 to the Warriors in Game 1 of their second round series.

Andrew Fyten led the way for the Broncos with a goal and an assist in the comeback effort that ultimately fell short.

"I guess we will take the positive out of that that we didn't give up," said Broncos Associate Coach Ryan Smith. "Didn't like that we didn't start great, but showed a little resilience. You can't play bits and pieces of hockey. You have to play a full game."



Swift Current had a solid first period doubling the Warriors in shots and creating some solid chances. Sahvan Khaira hit a post late, but the Broncos still wound up down 1-0 after the first period thanks to a Jayden Halbgewachs deflection for Moose Jaw.

That solid play tailed off in the second period as Justin Almeida struck on the power play when a blocked shot bounced right to him in the slot. Swift Current fell off their game at that point and got down 3-0 when Tanner Jeannot deflected in a Kale Clague pass.

It took until late in the second period for the Broncos to start moving their feet again and playing physical.

Fyten went aggressively after the Warriors in their own zone leading to a Khaira goal on a quick snap shot in the final minute of the period.

Fyten struck again on a penalty kill early in the third period as he won a neutral zone battle for a lose puck and converted a quick two on one with a nice shot upstairs on Brody Willms for his first of the playoffs.

"(Fyten) played a good game, he played well," Smith said. "We expect all our guys to play well. He was very good tonight. He stepped up, he got some extra ice (and) he deserved it. He was aggressive on the puck, he scored a goal and he was the main cause of the first goal as well on his forecheck. He was great. I hope he can have another good game. We need more guys like that for sure."

The Broncos then had their first power play chance midway through the third period with a chance to tie the game. Moose Jaw killed it off and got a quick rebound goal from Brayden Burke to restore a two-goal lead shortly after.

Tyler Steenbergen responded for Swift Current with his 7th of the playoffs after Glenn Gawdin and Aleksi Heponiemi forced a Warriors turnover in the corner of their end before getting him the puck.

The Broncos again had a late power play opportunity with a chance to tie it and couldn't break through on the Moose Jaw penalty kill.

Jeannot then put the game away with an empty-net goal.

"The way we approached the game kind of dictated how our power play was," Smith said. "We never got set up. As soon as they pressured us we seemed to panic and get rid of it. It would have been nice to score one for sure... but they did a good job of nullifying it."

Stuart Skinner made 20 saves on 24 Moose Jaw shots in taking the loss, while Brody Willms made 26 saves for the Warriors.

Jeannot, Almeida, Clauge, Brett Howden, Brandon Schuldhaus and Josh Brook all had two point nights for Moose Jaw.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow night for Game 2 in Moose Jaw before moving to Swift Current for Games 3 and 4.

Both clubs were playing the game with heavy hearts as the hockey world was rocked by the tragic Humbolt Broncos bus crash earlier this evening.