Filmon doubles up hat-tricks as Broncos beat up Edmonton Oil Kings

Josh Filmon (24) of the Swift Current Broncos celebrates a goal against the Edmonton Oil Kings at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Friday, December 16, 2022. Photo by David Bloom /mail media

They haven’t been able to take a break lately, but the Edmonton Oil Kings made their final appearance at Rogers Place on the Friday before the Christmas break.

And you can bet a win was high on their wish list after losing their previous nine in a row.

Unfortunately, they saw their losing streak hit double digits after dropping a proverbial lump of coal in an 8-4 loss to the Swift Current Broncos. It was the Broncos’ first win in their last nine visits to Rogers Place, dating back to the 2018-19 season.

But this time Edmonton had their hands full with the New Jersey Devils’ Josh Filmon, whose six goals and seven points that night propelled the Broncos to their third win in three games this season over the Oil Kings.

The visitors took an early lead just 39 seconds later when Raphael Pelletier controlled a rush into Edmonton’s end and passed it to Matthew Ward, who reached forward to deflect the puck onto Kolby Hay. The Oil Kings goalie made the stop but put him out of position when a trailing Filmon caught the rebound.

Filmon extended Swift Current’s lead on the power play after 4:02 and used the traffic in front of Hay’s crease to send a long wrist shot into the top corner.

To make matters more difficult, Marshall Finnie was thrown in after just six minutes, received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for checking with a poorly aimed punch to Clarke Caswell to the head, drawing the wrath of the Broncos pulled.

That left the Oil Kings with nine forwards for the rest of the way.

The Oil Kings didn’t let up, however, as Pelletier was rolled over by Johnny Szabo before the Anaheim Ducks’ Connor Hvidston was able to deflect a shot in front of Hay to complete a tic-tac-toe and go 3-0 down the middle of the first transit.

Edmonton came on the board in the last minute of the frame, with Rilen Kovacevic scoring his second goal since joining the Oil Kings on Nov. 28 by sending a rocket wrist shot from the top of the circle over Rocha’s blocker around to reduce Swift Current’s lead to two.

PENALTY REFUSED?

The second period began with Broncos forward Luke Mistelbacher being denied on a breakaway by Hays Block before quelling some frustration with a high stick against Oil Kings defender Graydon Gotaas, resulting in a double minor.

But it was Swift Current who conceded outnumbered when a miscommunication on Edmonton’s network resulted in a turnover and the puck bounced to who else? Filmon for a simple tip to complete the hat trick.

It was the fifth shorthanded goal the Broncos scored in three games in Edmonton this season.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Oil Kings’ power play ended with a penalty shot for Brady Birnie, who crept in a little too slowly and ran out of space before being thwarted by Hay, who put a block in front of the post.

But Swift Current would go 5-1 on a giveaway at Edmonton’s blue-line when a pass from Gavin Hodnett was intercepted by Pelletier, whose rebound went to none other than Filmon for his fourth of the night and the cycle with an equalizer – strength, power play and shorthanded goal.

At this point, with nearly 12 minutes left in the second half, Hay was replaced by Ronin Geraghty, despite coming into the game as the Western Hockey League leader with 760 saves in the season.

But Filmon was far from done, adding a breakaway goal to his tally on the night by going top shelf against Geraghty before finding himself in the slot all along to make it one with a one-off feed from the back double hat-trick to make the net from Hvidston.

PAIR FIRST

Szabo couldn’t hide a sigh of relief after scoring his first point of the season and opening the third period with a one-off shot from a Mason Finley pass.

He was joined by Reid Larson with his first-ever WHL goal on a wrist shot from the eye, firing 5:34 into the third period.

Gotaas then became the second Oil Kings player to be knocked out of the game after Rylan Gould was laid out with an open ice hit and sent Swift Current on another five-minute power play.

It led to a string of penalties from the Oil Kings, who eventually relented with a one-timer on Adam McNutt’s powerplay for the lone Swift Current goal with no involvement from Filmon, who was stopped by Geraghty on a final breakaway to one shy of finishing tying the league’s single-game goal record.

Instead, Mason Finley used a buzzer beater to cut Swift Current’s lead in half.

TEAM GERMANY

Oil Kings forward Luca Hauf missed his second straight game on Friday after joining Team Germany ahead of the 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships in Halifax, NS, and Moncton, NB

Hauf, who is participating in the World Junior Championship for the second year in a row, is the sole representative in Edmonton’s current roster at this year’s tournament, which begins on Monday, December 26 with Team Canada versus the Czech Republic.

Next up: The Oil Kings will play their last game before the Christmas break when they take on the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday afternoon.

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On twitter: @GerryModdejonge