Shmyr leads Wheat Kings past Broncos

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This article was published 17/01/2015 (4226 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings made themselves at home on Saturday night in Swift Current, Sask.

Braylon Shmyr scored two goals as the Wheat Kings beat the host Broncos 5-3, earning their 17th road win of the season and their third victory in four trips to Swift Current. Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon was "happy with the win."

"Not an easy building to win in and of course a single trip for us, travelling six hours, getting off the bus and playing," McCrimmon continued. "We won three out of four here this year, so I think that’s something our team should feel good about tonight. Swift Current played really well. They were hard-working, they had speed and it was a good game."

Shmyr opened and closed the scoring as the Wheat Kings (33-9-3-1) maintained their eight-point lead in the Eastern Conference standings. After Shmyr’s first-period goal, Leth tied the game for the Broncos (21-20-1-4) only 17 seconds into the middle frame. But just 13 seconds after Leth’s goal, Nolan Patrick scored to put the Wheat Kings ahead for good.

Duncan Campbell also scored for Brandon as the Wheat Kings held a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes, despite being outshot 32-18. Brandon goalie Jordan Papirny, who made only 16 saves on 21 shots in an 8-5 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday, bounced back with a 40-save performance and was particularly sharp in the first two periods.

Both teams scored twice in the third, with Jake DeBrusk and Linden Penner striking for the Broncos. The Wheat Kings responded both times, with Rihards Bukarts and Shmyr scoring to restore Brandon’s two-goal advantage.

"We played better in the third," McCrimmon said. "I thought our guys were harder working, more competitive and the last half of the third period we only gave up three shots. So there some positives in terms of being able to do the things we needed to get the win buttoned down."

ONE-TIMERS: Swift Current G Landon Bow gave up three goals on 12 shots before being replaced by Travis Child, who stopped 17 of 19 but took the loss … The Wheat Kings were 0-for-2 on the power play, while the Broncos were 0-for-4 … Brandon RW Jayce Hawryluk (upper body), who was injured on Friday, missed Saturday’s game … The Wheat Kings’ other scratches were D Kale Clague (upper body), D Mark Matsuba and D Mark Taraschuk … Brandon C Tim McGauley lost an assist on a scoring change from Friday’s game, leaving him with two goals and two assists, which was still the first four-point game of his career. McGauley added two assists on Saturday, as did RW Morgan Klimchuk … D Reid Gow had a Friday assist added for his first point as a Wheat King … Brandon D partners Ryan Pilon and Ivan Provorov fly to St. Catharines, Ont., on Tuesday to play in Thursday’s  BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game … The Wheat Kings’ next game will be on Friday when they host the Prince Albert Raiders.

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