Short-handed goal sinks Wheat Kings

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This article was published 09/05/2015 (3774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Playing the Kelowna Rockets at any time is an uphill battle.

Heading to B.C., trailing the Rockets 2-0 in the best-of-seven Western Hockey League championship series, the Brandon Wheat Kings are facing a mountain.

Nick Merkley’s short-handed goal midway through the third period broke a tie and sent the Rockets on their way to a 5-3 victory over the Wheat Kings in Game 2 of the Ed Chynoweth Cup final on Friday at Westman Place.

The goal was Merkley’s second of the game and came less than four minutes after the Wheat Kings rallied from two goals down to knot the score at 3-3 on a pair of Peter Quenneville markers. In both games, Brandon has scored first, fallen behind 3-1, rebounded to tie the score and then given up the winning goal.

"It is frustrating," said Quenneville, the Wheat Kings’ captain. "I think we’ve struggled in the first two games to create a gap in the score for us. Scoring that first goal early again like we did and failing to get the next one, or even another one after that, and then giving up that goal bang-bang in a situation where we’ve kind of got the momentum back and we’re believing that we can come back and win this game, unfortunately, it kind of takes the wind out of your sail when you give up those goals."

Merkley had a three-point night, also assisting on Leon Draisaitl’s empty-netter. Rourke Chartier and Gage Quinney also scored for Kelowna, which hosts Game 3 on Monday (CKLQ, 8:30 p.m.).

Tim McGauley opened the scoring for Brandon 1:20 into the game, scoring on a Jayce Hawryluk pass only seconds after fanning on his winger’s first setup attempt. Chartier tied the score with a quick shot from the slot off a feed from Draisaitl, then Dillon Dube found Merkley in front for the go-ahead goal.

Quinney struck 27 seconds into the second period before the Wheat Kings began to rally. They fired 19 shots in the middle frame, but Kelowna goalie Jackson Whistle stood tall on his way to a 38-stop night, including a big glove save to deny McGauley on an odd-man rush.

Quenneville tied the game in the third with goals less than four minutes apart, scoring an even-strength marker on a one-timer, then adding his eighth power-play goal on the playoffs, burying a loose puck after Morgan Klimchuk’s shot hit a skate.

They had a chance to take the lead on another power play, but instead that was where their charge was halted. Hawryluk’s shot on a 2-on-1 was deflected away by Whistle and the puck was quickly turned up ice by Kelowna, with Merkley slipping past the pressing Brandon ‘D’ and deking out Wheat Kings goalie Jordan Papirny, who finished with 26 saves.

"It was pretty exciting to see Nick score," Whistle said at the post-game media conference. "When they scored their third goal, you’re just trying to stay calm. You kind of forget about the goal and look forward to the next shot, keep the next shot out and keep hitting it back."

The Rockets are scheduled to host the next three games, if the series goes that far, and Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon wants to see a continuation of the progress he saw on Saturday.

"I think we were better in Game 2 than we were in Game 1," he said. "We’ve got to stay on that path. That’s playoff hockey, the games are going to be close. You need to get on the right side of it. I don’t think it’s going to matter where the games are played, but certainly we’ve got to get the result in Game 3 on Monday."

McGauley, knows the odds are stacked against his team right now, but he said the players need to keep their spirits high.

"It’s tough. We’re in a bit of a hole right now but it’s been done before," he said. "Teams have been down two games to none and come back to win championships, so we know we can’t hang our heads, can’t be negative or anything like that. We’ve got to make sure we bounce back strong and that’s what we’ll do."

 

ONE-TIMERS: Attendance matched Game 1, with a full house of 5,502 … Both teams dressed the same lineup as Game 1, with the Wheat Kings scratching C/RW Reid Duke, D Kale Clague, LW Quintin Lisoway, C/RW Stelio Mattheos, D/LW Mark Matsuba and D Mark Taraschuk … Rockets scratches included LW Tyrell Goulbourne.

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