Blades sweep home-and-home with Wheaties

The Brandon Wheat Kings lost consecutive games for the first team in three months as the Saskatoon Blades swept a home-and-home series with a 5-1 victory in Western Hockey League action at SaskTel Centre on Saturday.

Roman Calvert scored two power-play goals and Ben Bowtell, Hunter Laing and Tyrone Sobry added singles for Saskatoon (21-14-2-1) in front of a crowd of 3,918. Brandon (22-14-1-0) received its lone goal from Joby Baumuller.

Saskatoon goalie Evan Gardner made 35 saves, two days after he stopped he stopped 34 shots in a 3-2 victory in Brandon on Thursday afternoon as the Blades moved into a tie for fourth place with Brandon with 45 points. Brandon has a game in hand.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it was tough day at the office for his club.

“Their goalie played really well,” Murray said. “We were looking for a playoff-type intensity and I don’t think we really got it. We made a little push in the third but it was too little too late.”

Brandon didn’t start well, with Saskatoon’s Bowtell capitalizing on a loose puck in the slot four minutes 32 seconds into the game and firing it by goalie Filip Ruzicka. At that point, the Blades had all four shots on net.

The hosts went down 2-0 shortly after a Brandon power play ended in the second period. Tyrone Sobry took a shot from the blue-line and Laing found the rebound at the 6:12 mark.

The rout was on midway through the middle frame when Brandon took back-to-back penalties and Saskatoon’s Calvert converted on goals that came just 57 seconds apart.

“Probably the turning point of the game was when we took undisciplined penalties in my view and they scored on them both,” Murray said. “That was the turning point, going down 4-0.”

Brandon finally beat Saskatoon goalie Evan Gardner with 8:56 remaining in the third period when Baumuller was promoted to the top power play unit and his shot from the high slot hit a body in front and bounced in.

The Wheat Kings pulled Ruzicka with 3:26 left and Blades added an insurance maker by Sobry with 45.7 seconds left.

“We have to have a commitment to being first to pucks and winning pucks and bearing down on some opportunities and chances,” Murray said. “We had some goal posts and some looks but need to find a way to get it done.”

Ruzicka made 20 saves for the Wheat Kings.

Brandon went 1-for-4 on the power play, with Saskatoon scoring twice in two chances.

The Wheat Kings last suffered a two-game losing streak when they fell 5-0 to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Oct. 4 and 6-3 to Saskatoon on Oct. 5 as part of their horrendous 0-4-1-0 start to the season. That’s a stretch of 32 games.

“I think it’s a sign that we’re certainly moving in the right direction,” Murray said. “We’re a team that is relatively consistent. I think we can get a lot better. Obviously it’s tough after you lose, but looking at the big picture, it’s impressive. Hopefully this one stings and we don’t do it again for a while.”

The Wheat Kings next see action on Wednesday when Cole Temple and the Red Deer Rebels visit at 7 p.m.

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin and F Easton Odut, plus healthy scratches F Ryan Boyce and D Cam Allard … Luke Mistelbacher led the Wheat Kings with six shots on net … The game took two hours, 30 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 32-31 … The WHL trade deadline is on Thursday at 7 p.m. No deals have been completed since Friday.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com