A super-human like effort by Stuart Skinner fell a tad short for Josh Anderson and the Swift Current Broncos at the 2018 MasterCard Memorial Cup, losing 2-1 to the Hamilton Bulldogs on Monday.
New Jersey Devils prospect Marian Studenic scored the game-winner with 2:01 remaining in the final frame to pick up the Bulldogs first win in Regina.
WATCH THIS: @Studa_19 spoils Skinner’s show.@NJDevils prospect gets the game-winner for @BulldogsOHL scoring on one of 19 third period shots in Game 4 #MCMemorialCup victory over @SCBroncos. pic.twitter.com/D3ndgtMk7c
— CanadianHockeyLeague (@CHLHockey) May 22, 2018
Hamilton came in waves against Swift Current all night long outshooting the Broncos 56-22 overall – including a dominant 17-9 edge in the third period only to be turned away by Skinner and the post on most occasions.
The result ended up being a triple-whammy of sorts for the WHL Champions, not only did they spoil a stellar outing from Skinner – they dropped to 0-2 in the tournament and played without one of their top scorers Tyler Steenbergen.
“Stu has been our rock all playoffs here and even in the regular season but in the end, we didn’t do any damage up front to help him out,” explains Anderson.
VIDEO: #SCB d-man Josh Anderson addresses the #MMC100 media after a 2-1 loss to @BulldogsOHL. pic.twitter.com/e3T2CjobkS
— SC Broncos (@SCBroncos) May 22, 2018
The former Prince George Cougar blueliner was paired up with regular defense partner Sahvan Khaira in Monday’s contest after he was absent from the tournament opener on Saturday due to illness.
Swift Current will now look to keep its season alive on Wednesday against the host Regina Pats who are looking to exact revenge on their provincial rivals after losing in seven games during round one of the WHL Playoffs.
“It’s not a situation we want to be in but we have played in a couple of game seven’s in the postseason and we know how to handle certain things but it’s not quite facing elimination in the Memorial Cup.”
As for Skinner, the end result is a tough pill to swallow.
“It was a difficult game. They came out and played hard and wanted it a lot more than what we wanted tonight.”
“I felt good and ready the whole time, I know I want to win this thing very badly and I know my team does too – we can make lots of excuses I’m sure but I think we need to come out harder to play and when we show up, no team can beat us and if we do that we’ll be just fine.”
Mackenzie Entwhistle (Hamilton) and Colby Sissons (Swift Current) scored the opening goals for their respective clubs in the opening 40 minutes to keep the game at 1-1.
The Bulldogs improve to 1-1 and will play the QMJHL Champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan (2-0) on Tuesday with a spot in Sunday’s final on the line – the loser will then be slotted in Friday’s semi-final.
The @SCBroncos got 54-save performance from @ssskipy_74 but the @BulldogsOHL prevailed 2-1 on a late game winner from @Studa_19 to improve to 1-1 at the #MCMemorialCup. #MMC100
STATS: https://t.co/RfQUBeE9cj pic.twitter.com/BKOZRihK9a
— CanadianHockeyLeague (@CHLHockey) May 22, 2018