Chiefs blank Wheat Kings in trip finale

The Brandon Wheat Kings finally ran out of gas in their seventh game in 11 days on their West Coast road trip, giving up four goals in the first period and falling 4-0 to the Spokane Chiefs in Western Hockey League action at Numerica Veterans Arena on Saturday.

Spokane (23-23-1-0) received its goals from Rhett Sather, Sam Oremba, Tristen Buckley and Logan Wormald in front of a noisy crowd of 8,759, with Brandon falling to 28-20-1-0.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his club never really got on track.

“I thought it was kind of a flat effort,” Murray said. “They were tired. It was a lot of hockey and lot of travel and I’m sure everybody wants to get home to their own beds. You also have to be a pro too. We were pretty flat and pretty soft and pretty slow so we probably got what we deserved. We didn’t create many scoring chances.”

It took four minutes eight seconds for either team to even get a shot on net despite a Spokane power play 50 seconds into the game.

But a Brandon team that essentially won their game on Friday in the first period quickly got a taste of their own medicine on Saturday.

The Chiefs opened the scoring at the 4:46 mark when Sather’s shot from the point bounced in off a Brandon defender and through the legs of Brandon goalie Filip Ruzicka.

Spokane widened the lead midway through the period with goals that came 48 seconds apart, with Oremba popping in a rebound and Buckley beating Ruzicka to the far post on a wraparound.

Just after a Brandon power play, Wormald came in all alone three minutes later, and while Ruzicka made the initial save, the overage forward knocked in the rebound. The fourth goal in 10 minutes spelled the end of the evening for the Czech netminder, who made six saves on 10 shots, with Jayden Kraus entering the game.

“We did the same thing to a team last night,” Murray said. “It’s fun when you’re on one side of it but not so much when you’re on the other side. It was frustrating and a little disappointing.”

The best chances of a scoreless second period both involved special teams.

The first came several minutes in on Brandon’s third power play when they allowed a breakaway to Coco Armstrong that was denied by Kraus. The Wheat Kings had their best opportunity of the game late when Luke Mistelbacher popped out of the penalty box and went in on a breakaway, but Spokane goalie Linus Vieillard stopped him as he struggled to corral a bouncing puck.

A night of frustration for Brandon was neatly encapsulated when they went to their seventh power play late in the third period and it took 80 seconds just to gain the zone after they lost the initial faceoff.

Ruzicka and Kraus combined to make 22 saves for the Wheat Kings, with the German rookie Vieillard also stopping 22 shots for the Chiefs for his first WHL shutout.

Brandon went 0-for-7 on the power play, with Spokane unsuccessful in four chances as the Wheat Kings just allowed just one power-play goal in 25 chances during the six games in the U.S. Division.

On the trip, the Wheat Kings beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-4 on Jan. 21 en route to the U.S. Division, then fell 4-1 to the Everett Silvertips last Friday, beat the Portland Winterhawks 3-2 in overtime on Saturday, lost 7-3 to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday, beat the Wenatchee Wild 6-3 on Wednesday and topped the Tri-City Americans 7-1 on Friday for a record of 4-3-0-0.

If Brandon had won Saturday’s game, it would have been the first time they earned four victories during a trip to the U.S. Division. They’ve done it twice against the B.C. Division.

“You always want to be over .500 on this trip,” Murray said. “If you ask in a few days we’ll be somewhat satisfied. It’s disappointing when you have a chance to sit 5-2 but don’t get it done and don’t give yourself a chance.

“That’s the biggest thing, you just want to give yourself a chance every night to win and tonight was one of those nights when it felt like it got away from us in the first period.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin, D Dylan Ronald, F Easton Odut, F Chase Surkan and F Carter Klippenstein, plus healthy scratches D Ethan Young and F Carson Ralph … Spokane’s lineup includes former Wheat Kings forward Dominik Petr — who was acquired from the Saskatoon Blades in a deal involving Hamiota defenceman Kaden Allan — and Carberry defenceman Nolan Sanderson, who played under-18 AAA hockey in the Wheat Kings program with Jaxon Jacobson, Brady Turko and Odut … Mistelbacher led the Wheat Kings with five shots on net … The game took two hours, 19 minutes to play, with the first puck dropping at 8:17 CST … In the faceoff circle, both teams won 26 draws … A game between the Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pats scheduled for Saturday was rescheduled to Sunday due to adverse weather conditions … Brandon next sees action when the Calgary Hitmen visit Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Friday at 7 p.m.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com