Wheat Kings drop playoff opener to Oil Kings

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This article was published 24/03/2016 (3810 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings started strong but the Edmonton Oil Kings outscored them by three goals in the third period as the visitors won the opening game of their best-of-seven playoff series 4-2 at Westman Place on Thursday.

The teams meet again in Game 2 of their Western Hockey League series on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Reid Duke opened the scoring nine seconds in but the Wheat Kings, who hadn’t lost in nine games, promptly gave up a goal just 54 seconds later to Andrew Koep.

“Things turned pretty quickly on us there,” Duke said. “We had our opportunities and when we didn’t capitalize, they took advantage of it.”

Duke scored when Duncan Campbell’s shot from the corner hit the post and bounced out to him in the slot. But Koep converted on a three-on-one that developed when a Brandon defender got caught in the offensive zone.

Nolan Patrick restored the Brandon lead with just under three minutes left in the first period when he ripped a shot in from the slot behind Edmonton starter Payton Lee. 

Brandon head coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon said that after a scoreless second period, his team was where it needed to be.

“We led after two periods and didn’t do the job in the third that we would have liked,” McCrimmon said. “As a result it cost us.”

Brandon failed to capitalize on the final 72 seconds of a power play to start the third period and it came back to bite them just 55 seconds after the man advantage ended.

Ben Carroll’s shot from the point eluded Brandon goaltender Jordan Papirny to tie the game and Jesse Roach gave Edmonton its first lead just over three minutes later at 5:20 of the third.

Brandon Baddock scored the insurance goal at 12:22 of the third period when he fought off a Brandon defender and lifted the puck by Papirny on a partial break.

Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton said the early goal by Koep was key.

“The followup goal after a shaky start was good because it kind of calmed things down and it didn’t escalate,” Hamilton said. “That’s part of our game plan, not letting things escalate and build. That was a good response from our guys.”

Brandon outshot Edmonton 41-29 but were unable to generate a lot of quality scoring chances, due in part to Edmonton’s shot-blocking ability.

Oil Kings forward Brett Pollock, who had an assist in the game but was a threat all night, said his team was better after the game was tied.

“After that I thought we handled the adversity and their pushes really well,” Pollock said. “That’s the kind of game we have to play if we want to win the series.”

Pollock hit the post on a first period penalty shot.

If the series seems to be following a familiar script, it may be. The eighth-seeded Oil Kings beat the Wheat Kings 4-1 in Game 1 of the 2014-15 playoffs.

Of course Brandon rebounded a night later to win 8-1 as they went on to a 4-1 series victory.

“I think we beat ourselves,” Duke said of Game 1. “They played solid all night just as we expected but I think there were a lot of chances there throughout the game that we could have taken over control.”

For his part, Hamilton said his team will have to continue to play a lot like they did on Thursday to have success this year.

“We can’t be in a track meet,” Hamilton said. “They have a very talented group and it seems like nothing is going on and then all of a sudden things change dramatically. Our goaltender made a couple of critical stops for us and we’re going to need him to continue to do that.”

ICINGS: The Wheat Kings scratches included Tyler Coulter (lower body injury), and Linden McCorrister and Connor Gutenberg (healthy scratch) … The Oil Kings scratched second leading scorer Lane Bauer … Wheat Kings legend Brad McCrimmon was named No. 22 on the list of the WHL’s top 50 players on Thursday. The other players to get the nod were Rob Brown (No. 21, Kamloops Junior Oilers/Blazers) and Mark Recchi (No. 23, New Westminster Bruins and Kamloops Blazers). McCrimmon skated for Brandon for three seasons from 1976 to 1979 … The WHL launched its new website on Thursday. Let’s just say it will take some getting used to … Edmonton called up 16-year-old forward Brian Harris of Wawanesa. The member of the Southwest Cougars didn’t dress for Game 1. 

 

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