Broncos sink Wheat Kings in overtime

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This article was published 12/02/2022 (1501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Connor Hvidston scored in overtime and Reid Dyck made 46 saves as the Swift Current Broncos beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-3 in Western Hockey League action at Westoba Place on Friday. 

Cole Nagy, Grayson Burzynski and Karson King, also scored for Swift Current (17-23-4-1), with Marcus Kallionkieli, Chad Nychuk and Nate Danielson replying for Brandon (21-15-3-2) in front of a crowd of 2,385. 

Brandon head coach Don MacGillivray said there were things to like about his team but also plenty of gaffes.

“We had good energy and it was a good effort but we made a lot of mistakes,” MacGillivray said. “We were sloppy early in the game, high-risk stuff that traded opportunities for them. We got away a little bit from how we were playing and gave up too many chances. We had enough chances to win the hockey game with more than 40 shots and had some grade A chances and hit the bar a couple of times, but we found a way to get a point so we’ll take that and move on.”

Brandon prospect Roger McQueen made his debut with the club after being selected fourth overall in the most recent WHL draft. Brandonite Clarke Caswell also made his hometown WHL debut with the Broncos, who took him with the sixth-overall pick. 

Brandon didn’t do itself any favours in the early going, sending Swift Current to the power play three times in the first 11 minutes. The hosts managed to kill all three, however, and built an 11-4 advantage in shots with some good shorthanded chances. 

The Wheat Kings ended up on a 5-on-3 for one minute 41 seconds before the period ended, but Brandon’s power play, which ran its streak to 14 man advantages without a goal, managed just two shots on net, both of which Dyck turned aside. 

It was certainly a different story in the second period after a scoreless opening frame. 

Swift Current capitalized on its next penalty kill, when Nagy stole the puck and went in on a partial shorthanded breakaway. Brandon goalie Carson Bjarnason made the save but was knocked out of position. Mathew Ward picked up the puck behind the net, threw it back out front to Nagy who quickly scored. 

Exactly one minute later, still on the same power play, Ridly Greig sent a cross-ice pass to Kallionkieli, who deflected it in to tie the game. 

Swift Current promptly sent Brandon back to another power play, and this time Nychuk’s blast from the blue-line eluded Dyck to put the Wheat Kings up a goal. The goal was notable because McQueen earned his first WHL point with an assist by cleanly winning the draw back to the overage defenceman. 

“Obviously he’s big and has a lot of potential,” Nychuk said of McQueen. “He’s a nice kid. The future is definitely bright for him.”

In a wild turn of events, Broncos defenceman Burzinski scored just 45 seconds later when he was left alone, walked in and snapped a shot into the Brandon net. The four goals came in less than three minutes. 

Brandon pressed to regain the lead, building a 31-18 lead in shots through 40 minutes, but it was the visitors who struck next. 

Swift Current regained the lead 14 minutes into the period when King snapped a shot past Bjarnason on a rush. It was the first WHL goal for the Warren product, who is a graduate of the Interlake Lightning program. 

“We would generate for a few shifts and then we would have a breakdown that would lead to something bad against us,” Nychuk said. “We just have to clean up those little mental mistakes. Tonight we just had to get to the middle. That was the biggest thing, was fighting to get inside and get into the goalie’s eyes.”

After dominating stretches of the third period and outshooting the visitors 16-4, Brandon tied the game with 5:34 on the rush when Danielson’s bad-angle shot found a spot inside the far post to make it 3-3. 

Nolan Ritchie nearly won it with 87 seconds remaining but his shot from the slot found the crossbar and bounced into the netting above the boards. 

In extra time, both teams had sensational chances in the first 45 seconds, with Brandon unable to convert on their two shots. The game ultimately ended when Hvidston wristed a shot by Bjarnason 2:24 into overtime. 

It’s the second time this season Brandon has badly outshot Swift Current but lost. On Dec. 1, goalie Isaac Poulter made 47 saves — the Broncos had 14 shots on net — in a 3-0 Swift Current victory. 

Bjarnason made 21 saves for the Wheat Kings. 

Nychuk earned the first Gordie Howe hat trick of his hockey career with a goal, assist and a fight. He certainly heard about it on the bench.

“When I got to the bench, I didn’t even realize it, but somebody said it on the bench and I was kind of laughing,” Nychuk said.

Brandon went 2-for-6 on the power play, with Swift Current unsuccessful in six attempts. 

“The PK was real good, 0-for-6, and especially the last one with the timing of it with four minutes to go, to get a kill,” MacGillivray said. “I thought the guys did a good job tonight. Our specialty teams are trending in the right direction , you just need the power play to score at the right time and you need the kill at the right time, and we obviously didn’t get enough tonight.”

It was the first of three games in nine days the teams will play against each other, with the next two coming in Swift Current as Brandon heads out for a road trip to Alberta and Saskatchewan next week. 

Swift Current interim head coach Devan Praught was understandably pleased with his team’s effort, noting they lost in overtime earlier in the season when they carried a one-goal lead into the third period.

“I thought our guys did a good job,” Praught said. “They have a deep lineup over there, they have some game changers, and I thought we were able to manage things pretty well.

“Reid Dyck had an excellent game in net for us, giving us an opportunity, and we capitalized on the opportunities we created.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without F Jake Chiasson (upper-body, indefinite), D Mason Ward (day to day, lower body), and healthy scratches F Ben Thornton, F Trae Johnson and D Owen Harris …Danielson led the Wheat Kings with eight shots on net … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 41-30 … Ridly Greig was given his award as Brandon’s player of the month for January … Taylor Gauthier set a Portland Winterhawks record on Wednesday in a shutout victory over the Spokane Chiefs, improving his shutout minutes streak to 232 minutes and 19 seconds. Chris Worthy of the Flin Flon Bombers holds the WHL record of 265 minutes and 13 seconds, which he set during the 1967-68 season. 

 

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