Schneider scores in OT to lift Wheaties to 5-4 win

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This article was published 24/04/2021 (1777 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ben McCartney tied it late in the third period and Braden Schneider scored in overtime as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Prince Albert Raiders 5-4 in Western Hockey League action at Brandt Centre in Regina on Saturday.

The win officially eliminated the Saskatoon Blades in the hunt for the East Division crown. Any combination of Brandon earning a point or the Winnipeg Ice losing one will give the Wheat Kings the title.

Lynden McCallum scored twice for Brandon (17-3-2-0) on Saturday, with Brett Hyland and Ben McCartney also sniping. Dallyn Peekeekoot, Landon Kosior, Evan Herman and Matthew Culling replied for Prince Albert (8-10-2-1).

It was the final game of Schneider’s career against his hometown Raiders, and a nice way for him to end the fierce four-year rivalry.

“P.A. has always been a good team every year I’ve been in this league,” Schneider said. “To finish it off with the winner against them is big. I’m jacked about it and jacked I got the goal but I’m just more happy to get the extra point.”

Brandon head coach Don MacGillivray said the team’s combination of leadership and ability has allowed it to come back late in some games this season. On Saturday, the Wheat Kings blew 2-0 and 3-1 leads to fall behind in the third period.

“We have a confidence level that we can be in every game and we have some game breakers who can put the puck in the net so we’re never out of a game,” MacGillivray said. “We have lots of guys who like to win, they are competitive guys and that’s been the key for our guys. Our leadership group has been outstanding.”

Brandon had exactly the start it wanted. Three minutes into the game, Nate Danielson came down the wing with speed and sent a pass into the middle, where Hyland deflected the puck by Prince Albert goalie Max Paddock.

Five minutes later on Brandon’s first power play, McCallum received a pass down low, and with a power move across the front of the net, sent the puck by his former minor hockey teammate Paddock to make it 2-0.

“I just tried to drive the net and take it to the net hard and try to stuff it in and it worked,” McCallum said. “Max is a pretty good goalie, his number speak for themselves.”

The Raiders charged out of the gate in the second period, carrying the play for long stretches of the final 40 minutes. Three minutes into the period, Peekeekoot sent a shot from the low slot by Brandon starting Ethan Kruger to bring the Raiders back within a goal.

The teams exchanged goals a few minutes later, with McCallum scoring his second on the power play, and then Kosior responding two minutes later as the teams played 4-on-4.

“In the second period, it looked like we were scared to take the win,” MacGillivray said. “That’s how I thought we played. We were sitting back and letting P.A. dictate the play to us and they did a nice job of that. We knew it was going to be a gritty, hard-fought game.”

McCallum agreed.

“I think we started squeezing our sticks for a bit and tried to sit back instead of keeping playing how we did in the first,” McCallum said.

The Raiders drew the game even 23 seconds into the third period just before a Wheat Kings penalty ended when Herman had an open net in which to deposit a rebound.

The Wheat Kings came alive and started to create some good pressure, but after missing a couple of glorious opportunities, the Raiders came back down the ice and Culling gave Prince Albert its first lead at 4-3.

Brandon finally rallied with less than six minutes remaining when McCartney redirected a fine pass by Ridly Greig past Paddock to knot the game at 4-4.

In overtime, Brandon had all three shots. Just over two minutes into extra time, Schneider came down the wing and went hard to the net. When the puck made contact with Paddock, it popped up in the air and rolled over the Brandon product into the Raiders goal, something that surprised Schneider, who was skating away from the net when it went in and didn’t know he had scored.

“Danielson made a good play to pick off the pass from the top guy I was covering and I took off,” Schneider said. “He gave me the puck, I saw I had a bit of room so I thought I would try to take it to the far side of the net and ran out of real estate pretty quick and just jammed it in. I was fortunate enough to get a good bounce.”

Kruger made 23 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Paddock stopping 29 shots for the Raiders against his hometown team. Brandon went 3-for-4 on the power play, with Prince Albert scoring once in two chances.

Danielson earned three assists and was named second star. He’s certainly impressed the overager McCallum.

“He is one heck of a player,” McCallum said. “He sees the ice so well and he’s always looking to make a play. His skill level is just through the roof. I think I’ve said it about all the young guys, the fans in Brandon are going to have a lot of fun watching those guys.”

Brandon’s goal was to win four games in their final six-game segment, and they’ve already accomplished that feat. They finish up the season on Sunday night against the Regina Pats at 9 p.m., and on Wednesday against the Blades at 5 p.m. 

Winnipeg plays Prince Albert on Monday and the Regina Pats on Tuesday, and needs wins in both and Brandon to lose both to win the East Division.

“All the games aren’t going to be masterpieces but we found a way to get it done,” MacGillivray said of Saturday’s effort. “We found a way to tie the game and get that extra point.”

ICINGS: Brandon scratched F Jaxon Dube, who marked his 18th birthday at home due to a family matter, F Tyson Zimmer, D Jacob Hoffrogge and D Logen Hammett … The battle at the faceoff dot went to Prince Albert by a margin of 34-29 … McCartney led the Wheat Kings with seven shots on net.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson

 

Wheat Kings 5, Raiders 4 (OT)

First Period

1. Brandon, Hyland 4 (Danielson, Iorio) 3:03.

2. Brandon, McCallum 14 (Nychuk, Danielson) 8:27 (pp).

Penalties — Vitelli PA (high sticking) 7:20, Perepeluk Bdn (fighting major, unsportsmanlike conduct minor) 9:15, Nachbaur PA (fighting major) 9:15.

Second Period

3. Prince Albert, Peekeekoot 4 (Linklater, Crocker) 3:20.

4. Brandon, McCallum 15 (McCartney, Ritchie) 7:23 (pp).

5. Prince Albert, Kosior 4 (Nachbaur) 9:09.

Penalties — Kosior PA (interference) 7:03, Perepeluk Bdn (checking from behind) 8:16, Wiesblatt PA (cross checking) 8:16, Aquilon PA (interference) 10:15, McCallum Bdn (cross checking) 18:28.

Third Period

6. Prince Albert, Herman 8 (Wiesblatt, Aquilon) 0:23 (pp).

7. Prince Albert, Culling 3 (Moe, Gislason) 8:55.

8. Brandon, McCartney 13 (Greig, Schneider) 14:39 (pp).

Penalties — Pearce PA (high sticking) 14:01.

Overtime

9. Brandon, Schneider 5 (Danielson) 2:30.

Penalties — None.

Shots on goal by

Brandon     8     10     13 3    —     34

Prince Albert     7     8     12 0     —     27

Goal — Brandon: Kruger (OTW, 12-2-1-0). Prince Albert: Paddock (OTL, 7-6-1-0).

Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 3-4; Prince Albert: 1-2.

Referee — Troy Murray, Allan Scott. Linesmen — Sean Dufour, Brayden Glynn.