Mistelbacher’s shootout goal stands as winner

The Brandon Wheat Kings earned their third 4-3 consecutive victory on Saturday, rallying from a 3-1 deficit to beat the rebuilding Swift Current Broncos in a shootout in Western Hockey League action at InnovationPlex.

Brandon (31-22-1-0) received its goals from Grayson Burzynski, Jaxon Jacobson and Cameron Allard, with Trae Johnson, Trae Wilke and Carter Moen replying for Swift Current (13-35-3-2) in front of a crowd of 2,311.

Earlier in the day, the team released a statement that forward Joby Baumuller, who was stretchered off the ice and taken to hospital by ambulance on Friday during a 4-3 victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders, was resting at his billet house after undergoing comprehensive testing.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his injury-riddled club, which made the six-hour trip to Swift Current earlier in the day, earned a gutsy two points after falling behind 3-1. They dressed six defencemen and 11 forwards as 16-year-old callup Carson Park made his WHL debut.

“I think we showed some good character,” Murray said. “It wasn’t perfect but under the circumstances — we’re probably still feeling the effects of the U.S trip — it’s been a circus with travel and being short staffed. We’re just scrambling through it day by day. We’ll take two points and run.”

In a quiet start to the game, the teams combined for just five shots in the first 10 minutes, but at the 10:18 mark, the former Wheat King Johnson fired a shot that hit the stick of Brandon defenceman Nigel Boehm in front and ricocheted past goalie Filip Ruzicka to put the hosts up 1-0.

Brandon nearly knotted the game up on their first power play but a shot by defenceman Gio Pantelas hit the post behind Swift Current goalie Aiden Eskit, the younger brother of former Wheat Kings goalie Ethan Eskit.

Burzynski, playing against his former club, tied the game 2:53 into the middle frame when he was given time to skate in and picked a corner from the top of the circle.

The visitors dug a giant hole for themselves in the next five minutes.

Two minutes after the game was tied, Johnson and another former Wheat King, Tony Wilson, did the hard work that led to Wilke being left alone in the slot. He outwaited Ruzicka as the Wheat Kings goaltender sprawled across the crease and lifted a shot over him.

The Broncos made it a two-goal game shorthanded when Moen created a turnover high in the Swift Current zone, broke down the ice and beat Ruzicka with a quick shot.

Incredibly, Moen raced in on another shorthanded breakaway on Brandon’s next power play and drew a penalty shot with 3:52 left in the second period after Brady Turko tried to prevent his shot. This time, Ruzicka shut the door with a pad save.

“We’re down 3-1 and give up a penalty shot so that was a big part of the game and we even got a bit of a lift,” Murray said. “We scored one at the end of the second and I thought we played much better in the third.”

Just after the power play ended, Jacobson jumped on the rebound of a shot by Pantelas and backhanded a shot into the top corner to bring his club back within one. It was the second-year forward’s 20th goal of the season, and sixth in his last five games.

With the teams playing four-on-four to start the third period, Brandon had multiple chances and Allard tied it 62 seconds in when Luke Mistelbacher set him up and he was allowed to walk in.

The rookie defenceman fired a shot into the far corner for his fifth goal of the year.

The Wheat Kings nearly took their first lead seven minutes into the final frame but red-hot rookie forward Prabh Bhathal rang a point-blank shot off the post.

It took Swift Current more than 11 minutes to even get a shot on net as Brandon dominated the territorial play.

Brandon went to a rare 4-on-3 power play for 13 seconds and then had 1:47 of a normal man advantage with 2:09 left and promptly gave up a good opportunity. Shortly after, Eskit slid across to deny Allard on a one-timer with 42.5 seconds remaining.

“I just thought we had some spunk in our game and some jam,” Murray said of the third period as his team outshot the hosts 16-5. “We were winning races to pucks and in turn we had the puck a lot in the third period. The ice was pretty clean in our end and that’s something you want to see in the third period.”

In overtime, the best chance came when Eskit made a tremendous save on a Jacobson one-timer with a minute left.

In the shootout, the first Brandon had participated in since they beat Regina 3-2 on Oct. 29, Mistelbacher shot first.

He went wide, skated into the middle and fired the puck into the corner for what proved to be the only goal. Jacobson and Jordan Gavin were unsuccessful for Brandon, while Swift Current’s Sawyer Dingman, Parker Rondeau and Zach Pantelakis were all stopped by Ruzicka.

The Czech netminder, who has now denied all six shootout attempts he has faced this season, made 23 saves for the Wheat Kings in regulation and overtime, with Eskit stopping 34 shots for the Broncos.

Brandon went 0-for-5 on the power play, with Swift Current unsuccessful in one chance.

ICINGS: Brandon also skated without injured D Merrek Arpin, D Dylan Ronald, F Easton Odut, F Carter Klippenstein and F Chase Surkan … Park, who wore No. 3, is the 13th Wheat King to play his first WHL game this season… Brandonite Josh McGregor was out of the Swift Current lineup … Prabh Bhathal led the Wheat Kings with five shots on net … The game took two hours, 42 minutes to play after it started at 7:21 p.m., due to the Swift Current saluting its billets … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 45-26.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com