Kraus, Johnson lead Brandon past Moose Jaw

Jayden Kraus made 30 saves, including on a penalty shot, and Nick Johnson scored twice as the Brandon Wheat Kings continued their hot December with a 3-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors in Western Hockey League action at Temple Gardens Centre on Saturday.

Brandon (20-12-1-0) received the winning goals from Jaxon Jacobson, with Steven Steranka and Connor Schmidt replying for Moose Jaw (13-16-3-1) in front of a crowd of 2,887. The Wheat Kings are now 9-1 in December with two games remaining.

The teams meet again in Brandon on Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it was a fairly typical turkey-game effort as the players returned to the ice for the first time after their holiday break.

“I didn’t love it,” Murray said with a chuckle. “I told the guys this morning that the two most nerve-racking games from a coach’s standpoint are the last game before Christmas and the first one back after Christmas. Tonight would be a testament to that.

“It certainly wasn’t pretty. For the first 10 minutes we were pretty sloppy, then we got better and then were on our heels for a lot of the night. We’ll take the win for sure but boy, we’ll have to be a lot better here moving forward. We have a lot of games coming up quick.”

Brandon certainly didn’t get the start it wanted, allowing the first four shots, multiple chances and the opening goal in the first three minutes.

The Warriors scored after a shot by Russell defenceman Aiden Ziprick was blocked but bounced over into the slot to Steranka, who had an open net and beat Kraus two minutes 28 seconds in.

Just over two minutes later, however, Brady Turko found Johnson at the side of the net and the big Calgarian converted on his own rebound past Moose Jaw goalie Chase Wutzke to tie the game. Brandon took its first lead when Johnson got his second with 3:59 left in the period after he tipped a hard shot by defenceman Nigel Boehm.

Brandon survived a determined Moose Jaw power play early in the second period, but it soon got worse when defenceman Daniil Skvortsov tripped Gage Nigel after he went wide and then hard to the net on a breakaway.

On the ensuing penalty shot, which came 3:39 into the middle frame, Nagel tried to go back against the grain on a quick deke but Kraus was having none of it and stopped the shot with his pad and then flipped the puck back to centre ice.

Kraus made another key save with his glove when Moose Jaw forward Kash Andresen was sent in on a long breakaway. The Moose Jaw forward took a penalty later on the shift, and Brandon went up a pair of goals after they moved the puck around and rookie Chase Surkan found Jacobson across the crease down low and the Brandonite bounced the puck in off the goaltender at the 13:52 mark.

A tough period didn’t get any better for the visitors when Carter Klippenstein took two minors, an attempt-to-injure major and a game misconduct with 5:23 left. Fortunately for the Wheat Kings, Warriors captain Brady Ness also took a double minor on the play, so the visitors had to kill five minutes instead of nine for Klippenstein’s gloved sucker punch.

Still, Moose Jaw made Brandon pay.

With 3:30 left in the period and 2:07 remaining in the major, Moose Jaw’s Schmidt fired a shot from the faceoff dot that beat Kraus at the far post and the game was 3-2. Brandon was able to kill the rest of the penalty but not surprisingly with all the power-play time, the hosts established a 19-4 edge in shots in the middle frame.

“There’s nothing harder than playing the penalty kill,” Murray said. “It takes its toll, so obviously you don’t want to spend time on the PK, let alone nine minutes in a period. We weren’t very smart and kind of lazy on a couple of occasions and the next thing you know we’re in the penalty box.”

The third period was more uneventful, with Brandon clamping down defensively, staying out of the penalty box and creating some offensive chances.

Kraus had to be strong with seven minutes remaining, however, as he made three saves on Andresen during the same sequence in a breakdown in the Brandon zone.

The Wheat Kings went back to the penalty kill with 5:31 remaining, but managed to limit the Warrior chances, and the hosts pulled Wutzke for the extra attacker with 2:03 left. With seconds left on the clock, Kraus made an incredible save at the side of the net on Pavel McKenzie to seal the victory.

Brandon went 1-for-3 on the power play, with Moose Jaw scoring once in four chances.

Kraus, who was named first star, was victimized for 14 goals on opening weekend this season by Moose Jaw as his teammates struggled to find their way defensively. The 19-year-old Prince Albert product earned his fifth victory of the season, and third in his last four starts.

“I’m very happy for him,” Murray said. “It’s been a grind against Moose Jaw for him and he came back and had an outstanding performance tonight and put some demons to rest. I thought he was excellent from start to finish.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin and F Easton Odut, plus healthy scratches F Gunnar Gleasman and F Ryan Boyce. Brandon dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen, and were down to 10 forwards after Klippenstein was kicked out … Johnson led the Wheat Kings with five shots on net … The game took two hours, 19 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 31-27 … Wutzke stopped 19 shots for the Warriors … It was the second game in a row that Brandon’s goalie was named first star in a 3-2 victory. Filip Ruzicka earned the honour in a victory over the Calgary Hitmen before Christmas … There was one deal in the WHL on Saturday, with the Red Deer Rebels sending 19-year-old forward Jaxon Fuder of Cold Lake, Alta., to the Edmonton Oil Kings for 18-year-old winger Poul Andersen of St. Paul, Minn., a conditional fourth-round pick in 2027 and the rights to two prospects, 16-year-old forward Boris Sigachev of Calgary and 16-year-old forward Brock Stevenson of Denver.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

 

SATURDAY
Wheat Kings 3, Warriors 2
First Period
1. Moose Jaw, Steranka 3 (Ziprick, Carter) 2:28.
2. Brandon, Johnson 11 (Turko, Burzynski) 4:56.
3. Brandon, Johnson 12 (Boehm, Allard) 16:01.
Penalties — Boehm Bdn (fighting major) 2:20, Nigel MJ (fighting major) 2:20, Trefny MJ (interference) 6:27.
Second Period
4. Brandon, Jacobson 10 (Surkan, Burzynski) 13:49 (pp).
5. Moose Jaw, Schmidt 10 (Lajoie, Thorpe) 17:30 (pp).
Penalty shot: 3:49, MJ, Nagel, miss.
Penalties — Hadland Bdn (tripping) 0:38, Pavlik MJ (slashing) 4:42, Bench minor Bdn (too many men) 6:26, Andresen MJ (slashing) 12:49, Klippenstein Bdn (attempt to injure major, roughing minor, hooking minor, game misconduct) 14:37, Ness MJ (roughing double minor) 14:37,
Third Period
No Scoring.
Penalties — Turko Bdn (tripping) 14:29
Shots on goal by
Brandon     10     4     8     —     22
Moose Jaw     7     19     7     —     33
Goal — Brandon: Kraus (W, 5-7-1-0). Moose Jaw: Wutzke (L, 8-12-1-0).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 1-3; Moose Jaw: 1-4.
Referees — Adam Forbes, Bryce Sebastian.
Linesmen — Jordan Frey, Riley Carriere.
Attendance — 2,887 in Moose Jaw.