Mirwald leads Giants past Wheat Kings

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This article was published 06/01/2024 (725 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings threw 48 shots at Brett Mirwald on Saturday, but the overage goaltender stopped them all in a 4-0 Vancouver Giants victory in Western Hockey League action at Westoba Place.

London Hoilett, Justin Ivanusec, Tyler Thorpe and Ty Halaburda scored for Vancouver (15-21-2-0) in front of a crowd of 2,837.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said a terrible opening 20 minutes set the tone.

“To me, that’s the difference in the game,” Murray said. “We were completely flat in the first period and then we woke up. When you’re playing catchup, sometimes the damage is already done, and the first period tonight was very disappointing.

“We came out flat and almost uninterested and then in the second we completely turned it around but you know how it is. When you get chasing it, it’s not easy.”

Brandon (19-14-4-1) controlled the play in the first several minutes, with the puck overwhelmingly in the Vancouver zone as it built a 5-1 lead in shots. But the impending danger may have been signalled when an alarm went off in Westoba Place midway through the first period and rang for several minutes as play went on.

It was still ringing 13 minutes 29 seconds into the frame when the Winnipeg product Hoilett knocked the puck out of the air past Brandon goalie Ethan Eskit to open the scoring with six seconds remaining in a Wheat Kings penalty taken in the offensive zone.

The visitors made it a two-goal lead less than two minutes later when former Wheat Kings defencemen Logen Hammett fired a stretch pass up the middle that sent Cameron Schmidt in all alone. Eskit made a tremendous save, but the puck drifted back into the slot and none of the three Brandon defenders picked up Ivanusec, who had an empty net to make it 2-0.

By the end of the period, Vancouver led 10-8 on the shot clock in an ugly 20-minute span for the hosts.

Everything changed for Brandon in the second period, other than their goose egg on the scoreboard.

The Wheat Kings had three power-play chances and outshot the visitors 29-3 — that’s the most shots on net they’ve had in a period this season and the fewest they’ve allowed — but they somehow fell further behind. Thorpe was camped out in the slot and one-timed a pass from Jaden Lipinski to extend the lead at the 13:39 mark.

The shots were 20-3 at the time of the goal.

“The second period felt good,” overage forward Brett Hyland said. “We felt confident like we were going to come back in this game.

“It’s frustrating when you can’t get one past the goalie but you have to give credit to him. He played a helluva game and their team didn’t allow much in the crease area. Good on them but it’s frustrating.”

Murray said the team managed to generate good chances but simply couldn’t bury them.

“I thought in the second we had quite a few,” Murray said. “We hit a couple of posts and crossbars. I still think we can generate some more chances. I thought their goalie, as well as he played, he saw a lot of pucks. We need to have traffic.

“At the same time, we almost need layered traffic at the net. Sometimes there were opportunities where we were too close in and had pucks bouncing behind us. It’s having traffic at the net, and at the same time having those second and third waves coming in.”

Nate Danielson, who made his return to the Brandon lineup after playing for Canada at the world junior championship, hit the post on a point-blank shot early in the third period. He led the Wheat Kings with seven shots on net. Brandon pulled Eskit for an extra attacker with 4:20 remaining when they went on the power play.

They failed to put a shot on net and Vancouver put the game out of reach when Lipinski flipped the puck to Halaburda, who went down the ice on a shorthanded, empty-net breakaway with 2:49 remaining.

Eskit made 16 saves for the Wheat Kings, who went 0-for-5 on the power play and are mired in an ugly 2-for-28 stretch in their last six games. Vancouver scored once in two chances.

“It’s sort of one that got away from us,” Hyland said. “You take one period off and it kind of bites you in the ass. Other than that one period, I thought the effort was there. It’s disappointing but we can’t hang our heads on that one.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without healthy scratches D Tre Fouquette and F Hayden Wheddon … The win snapped Brandon’s five-game winning streak at home against Vancouver. The last Giants win in Brandon was also a 4-0 victory on Feb. 23, 2010. Mark Segal made 36 saves for the Giants that night …The game took two hours, 13 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 38-24 … Strathclair’s Conor Geekie was in the crowd as he takes a break after the world junior championship. He was set to join his new club, the Swift Current Broncos, on Sunday … The Wheat Kings (19-14-4-1), who also lost 4-0 to the Saskatoon Blades on Monday, haven’t scored in 131 minutes 48 seconds … The Victoria Royals visit Westoba Place on Tuesday at 7 p.m., as Brandon plays its final regular season game against a Western Conference foe this season.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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Giants 4, Wheat Kings 0
First Period
1. Vancouver, Hoilett 3 (Obobaifo, Titlbach)13:29 (pp).
2. Vancouver, Ivanusec 3 (Schmidt, Hammett) 15:16.
Penalties — Henry Bdn (hooking) 11:34, Henry Bdn (fighting major) 16:35, Edwards Van (fighting major) 16:35.
Second Period
3. Vancouver, Thorpe 18 (Lipinski, Wilson) 13:39.
Penalties — Hammett Van (cross checking) 3:43, Marinkovic Van (interference) 8:44, Ivanusec Van (holding) 16:42.
Third Period
4. Vancouver, Halaburda 14 (Lipinski ) 17:11 (sh, en)
Penalties — Thorpe Van (checking to the head) 8:14, Mantei Bdn (tripping) 7:47, Hoilett Van (tripping) 15:36.
Shots on goal by
Brandon     8     29     11     —     48
Vancouver     10     3     7     —     20
Goal — Brandon: Eskit (L, 5-6-0-0). Vancouver: Mirwald (W, 13-15-1-0).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 0-5; Vancouver: 1-2.
Referees — Tarrington Wyonzek, Micah Croker.
Linesmen — Andrew Paul, Logan Young.
Attendance — 2,837 in Brandon.