Danielson, Elick lead Wheat Kings past Oil Kings

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This article was published 22/11/2023 (720 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nate Danielson and Charlie Elick each scored twice as the Brandon Wheat Kings kicked off their four-game road trip with a 5-3 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings in Western Hockey League action at Rogers Place on Wednesday.

Brandon (10-9-4-1) received its other goal from Nolan Flamand, with Roan Woodward, Skyler Bruce and Gavin Hodnett replying for Edmonton (6-15-0-1) in front of a crowd of 4,074.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it was another night his team battled for consistency.

“The first was really good,” Murray said. “We got up 4-1 and we couldn’t ask to start the road trip on a better note. Obviously in the second period we got away from a lot of the things we talk about and things that give us success. We let teams crawl back into games, and frustrating is the best way to put it.

“We’re playing the right way and we’re having success, and then we get away from it and that’s when we lose momentum in the hockey game. We’ll take the two points and run but we have some pretty good opposition coming up here in the next three games and we have to make sure we play the game the right way. If we do that, we’ll do some good things on both sides of the puck.”

Brandon continues its road trip when it meets the Red Deer Rebels on Friday at 8 p.m. (CT), the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday at 8 p.m., and the Prince Albert Raiders on Sunday at 6 p.m.

The Wheat Kings got off to a dominant start on Wednesday evening and nearly scored twice in the first two minutes, but Dominik Petr narrowly missed the net on a one-timer into an open net and Danielson hit the crossbar.

The teams traded a pair of odd goals in the next few minutes.

Danielson scored four minutes 40 seconds into the game on a bank shot. Edmonton goalie Logan Cunningham and Oil Kings defenceman Parker Alcos met behind the Oil Kings net to play the puck, and the Brandon captain stripped it away and bounced it in off Cunningham’s pad as he slid back into position.

Just 76 seconds later, an Edmonton shot hit a body in front and dropped into the low slot, where Woodward sent it past Brandon goalie Carson Bjarnason.

Brandon regained the lead 8:34 into the first period after Danielson ended up with some time and space in the Edmonton zone and ripped a puck into the top right corner from the faceoff dot.

Elick broke the game open with a pair of goals four minutes apart to give Brandon a 4-1 cushion. The big defenceman’s shot from the point hit a body in front and bounced past Cunningham, who had no chance on the goal, and exactly 18 minutes into the period, Danielson passed him the puck off the rush and Elick blasted a shot from about 20 feet into the net.

When the second period started, Cunningham had been replaced by Kolby Hay, and the Oil Kings enjoyed an energetic start to the fresh 20.

It took 29:54 for the first penalty to be called, and it was assessed against the Brandon forward Petr. Eleven seconds into the first power play, the former Winnipeg Ice veteran Bruce cashed in on a rebound to score his seventh goal in 11 games with the Oil Kings.

Five minutes later, Matteo Michels tied up a pair of Edmonton forwards as they tried to get the puck out of their zone. It glanced over to the blue-line, Maliavan stretched to keep the puck it in and threaded a pass to Flamand, who was left all alone to restore Brandon’s three-goal lead. It was the first point for Michels as a Wheat King since Brandon acquired him on Nov. 13 in a one-for-one deal for the disgruntled Tony Wilson.

But a Brandon penalty during a scrum in the offensive zone sent the league’s worst power play back to work, and they capitalized for the second time when Hodnett sent a shot over Bjarnason’s shoulder from the faceoff dot to make it 5-3.

Brandon was outshot 14-7 in the middle frame and throughly outplayed after dominating much of the opening period.

The key play of the third period proved to be a ruling by the four officials.

Edmonton appeared to be back within a goal 2:17 into the final frame when Bjarnason’s glove on the puck was jostled at the side of the net. The goaltender was knocked over and the puck squirted out front to Marshall Finnie, who sent it into the empty net. After a discussion, the officials waved off the goal and extinguished what proved to be Edmonton’s best chance at climbing back into the game.

“They said they thought Bjarnason had it covered,” Murray said. “They came in and poked the puck a couple of times underneath him. I thought it was the right call. I wouldn’t have been thrilled if they counted because I thought Barney had it under his glove.”

Brandon had an outstanding opportunity to extend the lead when Alcos took a double minor seven minutes into the frame, and while they moved the puck around, they were unable to solve Hay. But the Wheat Kings kept the puck away from their end, something they continued late in the game, depriving the hosts of a chance to even pull Hay for an extra attacker.

While they weren’t able to build on the lead in the scoreless third period, the Wheat Kings held the Oil Kings to eight shots and largely cut down on their opportunities.

“I think we played better in the third period,” Murray said. “I thought we took care of the puck a bit better when Edmonton made push. The first period was excellent, the second was poor and the third period we played better. It’s something to build on. You’re never going to play a full 60 minutes completely but that consistency throughout the hockey game is what we’re looking for.”

Bjarnason made 27 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Cunningham and Hay combining to stop 23 shots for the Oil Kings. Brandon went 0-for-4 on the power play, with Edmonton scoring twice in four chances.

ICINGS: Brandon skated without healthy scratches D Tre Fouquette, F Hayden Wheddon and F Matt Henry … Defenceman Quinn Mantei and Andrei Maliavan led the Wheat Kings with four shots each on net … The game took two hours, 20 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Edmonton won 34-24 … Danielson also had an assist, giving him his first three-point game of the season.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson

 

Wheat Kings 5, Oil Kings 3
First Period
1. Brandon, Danielson 6 (unassisted) 4:40.
2. Edmonton, Woodward 3= (Larson, Port) 5:56.
3. Brandon, Danielson 7 (Roersma, Shipley) 8:34.
4. Brandon, Elick 2 (Flamand, Wiens) 14:01.
5. Brandon, Elick 3 (Danielson, Mantei) 18:00.
Penalties — None.
Second Period
6. Edmonton, Bruce 8 (Port, Lajoie) 10:05 (pp).
7. Brandon, Flamand 6 (Maliavan, Michels) 14:47
8. Edmonton, Hodnett 3 (Port, Lajoie) 18:14 (pp).
Penalties — Petr Bdn (interference) 9:54, Larson Edm (interference) 11:34, Mantei Bdn (interference) 11:58, Groening Bdn (roughing) 16:50.
Third Period
No Scoring.
Penalties — Wiens Bdn (roughing) 2:17, Michels Bdn (roughing) 2:17, Finnie Edm (roughing) 2:17, Szabo Edm (roughing) 2:17, Alcos Edm (boarding, double minor) 6:59, McQueen Bdn (interference) 14:11, Finnie Edm (slashing) 15:54.
Shots on goal by
Brandon     8     9     11    —     28
Edmonton     7     15     8     —     30
Goal (shots-saves) — Edmonton: Cunningham (8-4) (L, 1-8-0-0) , Hay (20:00, 2nd period) (20-19); Brandon: Bjarnason (30-27) (W/L, 8-5-3-1).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 0-4; Edmonton: 2-4.
Referees — Brody McGrath, Taylor Burzminski.
Linesmen — Connor LaForge, Ryan White.
Attendance — 4,074 in Edmonton.