Budd brilliant in return to crease

Ryley Budd looked dominant in his return from injury, helping the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 6-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors in Western Hockey League action at Temple Gardens Centre on Tuesday.

Joby Baumuller and Kris Muissu scored twice each for Brandon (10-4-0-0) with Hudson Landmark and Chase Surkan adding singles, while Nolan Paquette and Luke Moroz replied for Moose Jaw (4-8-0-0) in front of a crowd of 2,047.

Brandon dominated the beginning of the game. They consistently won puck battles in the offensive zone to create offensive opportunities while keeping the Warriors shotless for the first eight minutes 25 seconds.

“It was a real complete game from start to finish,” said head coach Marty Murray. “Our first period was really strong, and I thought it was one of our better 60-minute effort games this year.”

The Wheat Kings opened the scoring just under six minutes into the game on a hard-working shift by the fourth line of Cole Hunter, Landmark and Levi Ellingsen. The trio won multiple puck battles down low, allowing Landmark to feed Nigel Boehm at the point and then dive towards the crease to tip the shot past Warriors goaltender Jordan Switzer.

A few minutes later, a hooking penalty to Gage Nagel handed Brandon the opportunity to extend the lead, and the Wheat Kings wasted no time. Baumuller ripped a one-timer from the left circle on a cross-ice feed from captain Jaxon Jacobson that blew past Switzer with 11:49 remaining in the period.

Aiden Foster was credited with an assist on the play, giving him three points in three games with Brandon.

“He’s a presence out there,” said Murray about the new acquisition. “He has some hard skill and I think he’s been as advertised since he’s been here.”

While he wasn’t busy early, Budd looked good in his first game back from injury. He stopped Mathieu Lajoie on a breakaway opportunity and also came up with another big save against Helsinki native Rasmus Kamarainen on the penalty kill after Jacobson took a penalty for checking from behind.

“He’s played so well all year for us … it was great to see him pick up where he left off,” said Murray. “That’s a luxury we have, having two very capable goaltenders and it makes the coaches life a lot easier that’s for sure.”

Things got rough at the end of the period, starting with a fight between Ellingsen and Warriors defender Griffin Darby with 42 seconds remaining in the period.

Then, with less than a second left in the period, Lajoie toppled over a kneeling Budd, resulting in Colin Grubb and Josh McGregor dogpiling onto the downed Warrior in retaliation.

Brandon made light work of the Warriors’ power play at the start of the second period while continuing to savage any Moose Jaw player who strayed too close to Budd.

True to his style, Foster took a goalie interference penalty, putting the Warriors back on the power play after just 42 seconds after the end of Grubb’s penalty. The Wheaties once again made the kill look easy, except for a point-blank shot from Lajoie, which Budd kept out of the net.

The sleepy second period received a jolt of life with 11:05 remaining. Grubb galloped down the right side of the ice and stopped up at the hash mark inside Warriors territory.

He slid the puck to a trailing Muissu, who scored his seventh of the season on a laser of a shot that beat Switzer glove side.

Moose Jaw found a response 2:10 later when the Wheat Kings defence left Nolan Paquette all alone in the slot to bury Thorpe’s feed from below the goal line, breaking Budd’s shutout.

Moose Jaw drew life from the goal, creating a string of opportunities. Budd came up with his biggest save of the period on another breakaway, this time against Landen McFadden to retain the two-goal lead.

Muissu restored the three-goal lead with 3:25 remaining in the period. The big Russian danced around the top of the zone before faking a shot to step around McFadden and once again unleash his cannon of a shot. McGregor and Grubb were credited with an assist on the play.

The second period ended in more rough stuff. This time, Nagel’s late shot on Budd drew a crowd of Wheat Kings players as well as an unsportsmanlike penalty with just over two minutes remaining in the period.

Not only did the Wheat Kings fail to score on the man advantage, but they also allowed Luke Moroz to get behind the defence and slip the puck five-hole on Budd, making the score 4-2.

“It was a tough bounce. The puck bounced over Baumuller’s stick and that happens,” said Murray. “There’s nothing you can really do to stop that from happening it’s just hockey. Sometimes you get some bad bounces.”

The third period started with back-and-forth play between the two sides. Brandon’s forecheck returned to the dominance it showed in the opening period, often hemming the Warriors in their own end for extended periods.

Moose Jaw did find a couple flurries, including a few dangerous chances in tight by Thorpe, who threatened to score throughout the contest. He nearly handcuffed Budd on a pull-and-drag shot the goaltender had to squeeze between his blocker arm and body with just over 11 minutes remaining in the contest.

Moments later, Muissu missed his hat trick by inches as he instead made the iron sing thanks to a long shot by Baumuller that bounced right onto his stick.

The Wheaties once again made Moose Jaw pay on the power play after Connor Schmidt took an unsportsmanlike penalty with 10:20 remaining in the game. Jacobson found Baumuller, this time in the slot, for his second of the game to take a 5-2 lead.

The Wheaties weren’t done yet. Chase Surkan jammed the puck home on the rush after he found a rebound created by Cameron Allard’s shot, effectively putting the game out of reach for Moose Jaw.

A tripping penalty to Brady Turko gave the Warriors one last shot on the power play, but Brandon fought it off to stay perfect on the penalty kill.

Budd made 30 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Switzer stopping 37 shots for the Warriors.

Brandon went two-for-three on the power play, with Moose Jaw failing to score on four chances.

With the loss, the Warriors are now on a five-game losing streak, while the Wheat Kings put up a season high in shots. It’s just the second time the Wheaties outshot their opponents this year; the other instance also came against Moose Jaw.

“Hopefully the guys can ride the confidence from the game tonight,” said Murray. “I think everybody should feel good about their game coming out of the game against Moose Jaw.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without healthy scratches Jimmy Egan, Ryan Boyce and injured D Ilari Kapanen and F Gunnar Gleasman … In the only other regular-season meeting between the teams so far, the Warriors earned a 3-1 victory in Moose Jaw on Sept. 26 … Prabh Bhathal and Joby Baumuller tied for the Wheat Kings lead in shots with 8 shots on net … The game took two hours, 39 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 40 of 71 draws.

» rmccarthy@brandonsun.com