Josh Nicholls scores hat trick as Blades hang on to beat Broncos 7-5

Josh Nicholls scored a hat trick to lead the Saskatoon Blades to a 7-5 win over the Swift Current Broncos in Western Hockey League play Wednesday. 

Saskatoon held a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes and then outscored the Broncos 4-3 in a wild seven-goal third period. 

Nicholls now leads the Blades (13-6-1) with 16 goals, scoring with 19 seconds left in the second period and again 17 seconds into the third period to break open a 2-2 game. 

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Michael Burns had the eventual game-winning goal, his 10th of the season, with 2:54 left in regulation. Saskatoon also had goals from Jake Trask, Jesse Paradis and Dalton Thrower to win its third straight. 

Swift Current (7-10-3) was led by a two-goal performance by defenceman Dalton Reum while Ryon Moser, Adam Lowry and Erik Fleming added one each. 

Blades goaltender Andrey Makarov made 32 saves for the win, while at the other end Jon Groenheyde allowed five goals on 24 shots before being pulled for Austin Smith.