Turko fires shootout winner for Wheaties

Brady Turko scored the only goal of the shootout as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Swift Current Broncos 4-3 in Western Hockey League action at InnovationPlex on Friday.
Brandon (36-24-1-0) received its goals in regulation from Turko, Nick Johnson and Jaxon Jacobson, with Tony Wilson, Hyde Davidson and Trae Johnson replying for Swift Current (13-41-4-4) in front of a crowd of 2,483.
The teams meet again tonight in Brandon at 6 p.m.
Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his team wasn’t great in stretches.
“It was probably just enough to get by,” Murray said. “I thought in the first 10 minutes we struggled coming out of the gate and then in the last half of the first period we were really strong.
“We were just kind of inconsistent after that. When you get a team down 3-1, you have to put the game away and not let them crawl back in. We hung on by a thread and got the two points, which we’ll take, but being up 3-1 late in the third kind of puts a sour taste in your mouth.”
The former Wheat Kings forward Wilson opened the scoring eight minutes 16 seconds into the game when he was left all alone off the rush and fired in a one-timer past Brandon goalie Filip Ruzicka.
Brandon tied it three minutes later when Turko found his own rebound and shot it past Swift Current goalie Archer Cooke to run the McCreary forward’s point streak to five games.
The Wheat Kings took their first lead 95 seconds into the middle frame when Turko sent the puck to Jordan Gavin and he found Johnson on the three-way passing play for the overager’s 21st goal and 50th point.
Ruzicka’s 23rd stop was his most important when Broncos forward Hudson Darby came in on a long breakaway with the teams playing four-on-four late in the second period, which preserved Brandon’s 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
The Wheat Kings narrowly missed taking a two-goal lead twice in the third period, with Chase Surkan and Gunnar Gleasman both ringing shots off the post.
Jacobson finally found the back of the net on a rebound with 6:58 remaining in regulation after Cooke made a good save on a point-blank shot by Luke Mistelbacher.
It took just 69 seconds for the Broncos to get back within a goal when Davidson got a pass high in the Brandon end, skated in a few steps and beat Ruzicka with a low shot.
Swift Current pulled Cooke for an extra attacker with 1:48 left and a faceoff in the Brandon zone. The Wheat Kings never got the puck out of their zone and the Broncos tied the game with 32.1 seconds remaining in regulation when Davidson’s shot hit the former Wheat Kings forward Johnson in front and bounced in.
The Broncos had four good chances in the first 90 seconds of overtime but Ruzicka was sharp as the hosts kept possession of the puck.
Brandon went to a power play with 3:17 remaining when a Swift Current assistant coach was penalized and kicked out of the game, but the Wheat Kings didn’t create much, with just one shot on net as they were a little too deliberate.
“We’ve had a little bit of an issue with that lately,” Murray said. “We’re kind of forcing pucks and trying to slow it down. When power plays are effective, it’s moving the puck quick and not standing still or it’s pretty easy to defend.”
With the teams playing four-on-four after the penalty was killed, Davidson narrowly missed the overtime winner at the side of the net in the final minute, sending the game went to a shootout.
After Mistelbacher and Sawyer Dingman were stopped on shots in the first round, Jordan Gavin missed the net and Hudson Darby was pokechecked by Ruzicka.
Turko then fired a shot over Cooke’s glove to give his team the lead and Ruzicka earned the win with a save on Trae Wilke.
“I thought he earned it,” Murray said of the decision to use Turko in the shootout. “He’s a good player obviously and has the ability to put the puck in the net. I felt like he earned the opportunity the way he played to give us a chance to win the game and he delivered when it mattered.”
Brandon went 0-for-4 on the power play, with Swift Current unsuccessful in three chances.
Ruzicka made 35 saves for the Wheat Kings plus three in the shootout, with Cooke stopping 33 shots for the Broncos and two int he shootout.
“I thought he was really good,” Murray said of his goalie. “I thought he made some big saves. Some of them were through traffic and hard to track but he’s such a big guy. I thought he performed very well, especially in overtime and the shootout.”
ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin, D Dylan Ronald, F Easton Odut, F Carter Klippenstein, F Caleb Hadland and F Joby Baumuller … It was the final visit to Swift Current for longtime Broncos Grayson Burzynski and Mistelbacher, who were acquired by the Wheat Kings last summer … Mistelbacher skated in his 250th WHL game … In an annual marketing gimmick, the Wheat Kings have been rebranded the Wheat City Walleye for the weekend series, while the Broncos are playing under the Lake Diefenbaker Slough Sharks monicker … Burzynski led the Wheat Kings with five shots on net … The game took two hours, 41 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 38-30.
» pbergson@brandonsun.com

 

Wheat Kings 4, Broncos 3 (SO)
First Period
1. Swift Current, Wilson 13 (Davidson, Wilke) 8:16.
2. Brandon, Turko 16 (Johnson) 10:45.
Penalties — Wilson Bdn (tripping) 3:00, Birch SC (interference) 15:22.
Second Period
3. Brandon, Johnson 21 (Gavin, Turko) 1:35.
Penalties — Lavoie Bdn (hooking) 10:57, Gleasman Bdn (roughing) 17:25, Ročák SC (roughing) 17:25
Third Period
4. Brandon, Jacobson 22 (Mistelbacher, Bhathal) 13:02.
5. Swift Current, Davidson 4 (Darby, Wilke) 14:11.
6. Swift Current, Johnson 5 (Davidson, Ročák) 19:28.
Penalties — Burch SC (delay of game) 3:40, Lavoie Bdn (high sticking) 7:04, Wilke SC (slashing) 14:58.
Overtime
No Scoring.
Penalties — Bench minor SC (coach) 1:43.
Shootout — Brandon wins 1-0.
Brandon: Mistelbacher miss, Gavin miss, Turko goal.
Swift Current: Dingman miss, Darby miss, Wilke miss.
Shots on goal by
Brandon     17     6     13 1     —     37
Swift Current     11     13    10 4     —     38
Goal — Brandon: Ruzicka (SOW, 23-12-0-0). Swift Current: Cooke (SOL, 3-10-3-3).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 0-4; Swift Current: 0-3.
Referees — Ridge Brooks, Brayden Glynn.
Linesmen — Brendan Hale, Michael McGowan.
Attendance — 2,483 in Swift Current.