Wheat Kings finish pre-season with 3-2 win

VIRDEN — Rookie forward Chase Surkan scored twice as the Brandon Wheat Kings earned their third straight victory with a 3-2 decision over the Swift Current Broncos at Tundra Oil and Gas Place on Saturday in the Western Hockey League pre-season finale for both clubs.

Brandon (3-1-0-0) received its other goal from Joby Baumuller, with Sawyer Dingman replying for Swift Current (1-3-1-0).

Brandon won 6-5 in overtime against the Broncos on Friday.

“I thought this was the most complete game we’ve played,” Surkan said. “Obviously we’re happy with that and happy with the win.”

“We played a hard 60 minutes” Baumuller added. “In the third period we had some bumps but at the end of the day, I thought we all battled hard and played a fast game today.”

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it was the most complete of their four pre-season games, all of which were played without the six Wheat Kings who are at National Hockey League camps.

“I think it had a better feel,” Murray said. “For our group, we defended harder, we didn’t give up as much or were as loose as in the last few games. It’s encouraging to wrap up the pre-season like that. They had a push in the third there and in the last 10 and we kind of bent but didn’t break and (Hudson) Perry made some big saves too.”

Brandon opened the scoring on the power play 57 seconds into the second period, when Jaxon Jacobson set up Surkan and the Regina product fired the puck into the top of the net behind Swift Current goalie Aiden Eskit, the brother of former Wheat Kings goalie Ethan Eskit.

It took Swift Current just 56 seconds to tie the game when Dingman — the son of former Wheat Kings great Chris — sniped off the rush.

Surkan scored his second goal 10:43 into the period when Jordan Gavin put the puck on his stick with a gorgeous setup across the slot.

“On the first one, I found some soft ice over on the left wall and actually heard Johnny (Nick Johnson) in front telling me to shoot it so I shot it and scored,” Surkan said. “On the second one, it was a three-on-one and Gav passed to me and I passed it back to Gav. Then he dished it backdoor to me and I had a wide-open net.”

Murray said Surkan, who played with Jacobson and Gavin in the pre-season and led the team with five goals, did a really good job skating with the older players.

“He certainly didn’t lack any confidence playing with those guys,” Murray said. “Sometimes you play with two veteran players who are offensive and you feel like you have to give them the puck all the time. He blended right in. They had some shifts were they were zipping the puck around to areas and knowing where each other were all the time.

“It was good. It was fun to watch those three.”

Baumuller extended the lead three minutes later when he skated into the Swift Current zone with the puck, danced around a defender, moved into the middle and fired a bullet past Eskit to make it 3-1.

“I saw I had him wide and then he kind of got me for a second,” Baumuller said of the Broncos defender. “I pulled it in: I don’t really do many of those moves anymore but I got it and went ‘What do I do now?’ I just shot the puck on net and beat him under his low glove. It was good.”

The Broncos edged back within a goal 12:25 into the third period when Hanson beat Perry cleanly with a shot off the rush.

Both teams had significant chances misfire in the next few minutes when the puck squarely hit the post and stayed out.

The Broncos pulled Eskit with 2:04 remaining and while Swift Current struggled to create significant offensive chances, Hudson was called on to make one incredible save, thrusting out his pad to deny an opportunity at the side of the net with two seconds left.

“I think everybody showed that they can handle it,” Murray said. “They had quite a few veteran players — I think they were up in the teens tonight as far as veteran players — so it was good to have a tight game. It had a Western Hockey League feel to it instead of a summer league feel.”

Hudson Perry made 29 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Eskit stopping 28 shots for the Broncos. Brandon went 1-for-2 on the power play, with Swift Current unsuccessful in two chances.

The Wheat Kings went 3-1-0-0 in the pre-season, winning their last three games. Murray said they played pretty well.

“A lot of these guys got their first experience in junior hockey and I liked our ability to make some plays,” Murray said. “I thought we scored some nice goals through the pre-season. We’ve been harping on making sure we’re taking care of our own end and taking care of the puck.

“Again, I thought we did a better job of that tonight. There is lots of room to work with but I thought it was a good pre-season overall.”

Now one especially big job remains before the regular season opens on Friday against the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors. Happily for the Wheat Kings, the team’s young prospects made it a real challenge to pare down the roster to a more manageable number.

“There are going to be some tough decisions here in the next day or two,” Murray said. “The kids have worked hard all training camp.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without its pro campers, forwards Luke Mistelbacher, Caleb Hadland, Carter Klippenstein and Brady Turko, defenceman Grayson Burzynski and goalie Jayden Kraus, plus D Merrek Arpin, Adam Hlinsky and Easten Turko and F Ben Binder Nord. Arpin was injured in Friday’s game … The game took two hours, 17 minutes to play … Player shots and face-offs weren’t tracked … Watch The Brandon Sun all week for extensive preview coverage of the upcoming season.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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Wheat Kings 3, Broncos 2
First Period
No Scoring.
Penalties — Gleasman Bdn (unsportsmanlike conduct) 11:26, Kuryachenkov SC (unsportsmanlike conduct) 20:00.
Second Period
1. Brandon, Surkan 4 (Jacobson) 0:57 (pp).
2. Swift Current, Dingman 1 (unassisted) 1:51.
3. Brandon, Surkan 5 (Gavin, Jacobson) 10:43.
4. Brandon, Baumuller 2 (Johnson, Boehm) 13:01.
Penalties — Ronald Bdn (holding) 7:56.
Third Period
5. Swift Current, Hanson 1 (Morin) 12:25.
Penalties — Dingman SC (boarding) 1:31.
Shots on goal by
Brandon     9     16     6     —     31
Swift Current     7     13     11     —     31
Goal — Brandon: Perry (W, 2-0-0-0). Swift Current: Eskit (L, 0-1-0-0).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 1-2; Swift Current: 0-2.
Referees — Micah Cook, Taylor Friesen.
Linesmen — Josh Blondeau, Logan Younmg.
Attendance — n/a in Virden.