After long trip, Wheaties want to keep foot on gas
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/04/2016 (3548 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
RED DEER, Alta. — The Brandon Wheat Kings are intent on not making the same mistake twice this month.
As they head into Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final against the Red Deers Rebels tonight at the Enmax Centrium at 8 o’clock, (WCG-TV), they haven’t forgotten what happened in the semifinal.
In their series against the Moose Jaw Warriors, the Wheat Kings took the first two games at home and headed into Saskatchewan with momentum behind them. But a 7-1 shellacking by the Warriors was the result.
Brandon head coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon doesn’t expect history to repeat itself as his side enters Game 3 against Red Deer up 2-0 in the series.
“I think this is completely different,” McCrimmon said. “You’re not going to be able to let down for five minutes in this series, let alone a game. We’re going to be ready to play (tonight); we’ll need to be.”
Judging by the first two games, truer words were never spoken.
After 122 minutes, 53 seconds of the conference final, wild swings in momentum and frequent lead changes have been common themes. In Game 1, there were three lead changes; in Game 2 there were four.
With another large crowd expected tonight at the Enmax Centrium — the Rebels have averaged 5,887 fans through their first seven home playoff games — Brandon forward Nolan Patrick said the Wheat Kings will need to follow a familiar script to be successful.
“I think the biggest thing for us is having a good start,” Patrick said. “I think both these games we’ve had great starts and been in their end for the first five minutes of the game. A lot of credit to our fans too, they’ve been unbelievable the last couple of games.”
Red Deer has held leads in the third period of both games, but the Wheat Kings were able to rally to tie and eventually win. John Quenneville notched an overtime goal in Game 1 and Patrick fired home the winner in Game 2 with just over five minutes remaining.
Rebels associate coach Jeff Truitt said his team has to be better.
“We know that they’re a great team and that chances are kind of hard to come by on both ends,” Truitt said. “We got outshot pretty handily in the second period (19-8 on Saturday) and we have to be able to minimize those opportunities. You’re going to give up chances, but you have to minimize the good ones and get back on the offence.
“For us, we have to defend. Ten goals in two games isn’t going to cut it and offensively we have to capitalize a little more. We have to defend better and score more, and when we get the lead, we have to work like heck to protect it because it can swing in an awful hurry.”
For a team that’s now won 10 playoff games and lost just three, Brandon has faced its share of adversity. The Wheat Kings lost the first two games of their quarter-final series against the Edmonton Oil Kings before rebounding to win the next four.
They lost big in Moose Jaw and in this round, Hadyn Fleury of the Rebels tied Game 1 on Friday with just over four seconds remaining.
But Patrick said this year’s team has done a good job of staying on an even keel.
“We have a lot of voices in the room that help us stay positive and nobody points fingers when we get down and everybody stays positive,” Patrick said. “Even (Friday) night when we got scored on with four seconds left, everyone’s a little mad when it happens but we put it behind us quickly and we came out and win in overtime. We have a lot of good guys in the room who can handle that well.”
Game 4 is set for Wednesday in Red Deer at 8 p.m.
ICINGS: Seattle Thunderbirds forward Scott Easnor is the WHL’s player of the week. The 20-year-old from Englewood, Colo., scored three goals, including the game-winners in the first two contests of the Eastern Conference final. His teammate Landon Bow is the league’s nominee for the CHL goalie of the week. Bow posted a 2-0 record with a 1.50 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage.
» pbergson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @PerryBergson