Wheat Kings, Papirny shut down Warriors

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This article was published 27/12/2014 (4077 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the second year in a row, Jordan Papirny has come back from the Western Hockey League’s Christmas break in fine form.

Papirny made 29 saves as the visiting Wheat Kings blanked the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-0 on Saturday night in their first game back from the break. The shutout was Papirny’s third of the season and fourth of his career. Papirny’s first WHL shutout came exactly one year earlier, when he opened the second half of the season by backstopping Brandon to an 8-0 win over the Regina Pats.

"(Papirny) was solid," Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon said Saturday night from Moose Jaw, Sask. "I thought he made one real good save in the third when the game was 2-0, which again the timing of those saves is always important. It was probably his best save of the night."

Reid Duke had a goal and an assist as the Wheat Kings (25-7-3-1) stretched their lead in the East Division to 12 points over the second-place Pats. Jayce Hawryluk and John Quenneville also scored for Brandon.

Peter Quenneville dished out two assists, including a nifty behind-the-back feed to Duke midway through the first period for the opening goal, on Brandon’s only power play of the game. The Wheat Kings limited the Warriors (15-18-2-1) to only five shots in the second period and stretched their lead to 2-0 as Hawryluk scored an unassisted marker from the slot.

"The second period was our best," said McCrimmon, whose team will host the Warriors today (Westman Place, 4 p.m.) to wrap up the home-and-home series. "I thought we territorially had a big advantage and were able to add to our lead, putting us in position where we were up 2-0 going into the third, which was important."

Papirny and the Wheat Kings’ penalty killers, who were a perfect 4-for-4, carried Brandon through a rough patch early in the third period, when the Warriors had a couple of power plays. John Quenneville iced the victory with an empty-net goal.

ONE-TIMERS: Papirny’s three shutouts are third in the WHL … Moose Jaw G Zach Sawchenko made 30 saves … Wheat Kings C Tim McGauley had a five-game goal-scoring streak and a 12-game point-scoring streak snapped … Brandon scratched D Ivan Provorov (world junior championship), D Kale Clague (upper body), LW Jesse Gabrielle (illness) and LW Ty Lewis … The Warriors played with 16 skaters, two under the normal number, with their scratches including C Brayden Point (world juniors) and LW Jaimen Yakubowski (one-game suspension) … The Christmas trade freeze was lifted on Saturday, with two deals completed. Red Deer acquired D Colton Bobyk, 18, and a fourth-round pick in the 2016 WHL bantam draft from Spokane for D Nick Charif, 19, a second-round pick in 2015 and a sixth-rounder in 2016. Swift Current added D Griffin Foulk, 19, from Lethbridge for a conditional eighth-round bantam pick in 2016.