Ice rally to top Wheat Kings

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/10/2022 (1162 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A combination of bad penalties and unlucky bounces sunk the Brandon Wheat Kings for the second night in a row as they fell 4-3 to the Winnipeg Ice in Western Hockey League action at Wayne Fleming Arena on Saturday.

Strathclair’s Conor Geekie, Ty Nash, Zach Benson and Owen Pederson scored for Winnipeg (13-1-0-0) in their home opener, which came after 13 games on the road to start the season as the arena on the University of Manitoba campus underwent upgrades.

Nate Danielson, Charlie Elick and Zakhar Polshakov replied for Brandon (6-7-1-0) as the Wheat Kings dropped their third game in a row, and third of the season to the Ice, who beat them 4-1 on Friday.

Brandon head coach Don MacGillivray said penalties are becoming a real problem for his group, which has given up a league-high 74 power plays in 14 games.

“They’re a big concern,” MacGillivray said. “It’s something that tonight was a factor in the game. Part of it is reaching, part of it positioning, part of it is not moving your feet and part of it is a lack of discipline. That’s an area we need to get better at. It’s something a lot of teams go through during the season, and we take a lot of penalties, but we also play on the edge a little bit, which I don’t mind.

“Sometimes you just have to kill those penalties — for example when Mason Ward blows out somebody in front of the net — but the ones that are 200 feet from your net, those ones hurt.”

Brandon sits fifth in the league with an 85.1 per cent efficiency rate on the penalty kill but has surrendered 11 power-play goals this season.

On Saturday, Winnipeg pushed the puck past Brandon goalie Carson Bjarnason one minute 57 seconds into the first period after the netminder had it covered, but it was immediately and vigorously waved off from behind the net by the referee, who had already blown his whistle.

After a scoreless first period, the breakthrough came 26 seconds into the middle frame when Danielson batted a puck out of the air past Winnipeg goalie Daniel Hauser for his fifth goal of the season after a cross-ice pass from Andrei Malyavin.

The Wheat Kings took their second penalty of the game two minutes later, and the Ice swarmed in the Brandon zone for two minutes but were unable to score. It was clear, however, that any momentum Brandon had developed had decidedly swung the other direction, with the hosts outshooting the visitors 11-2 in the first half of the period.

They finally tied the game 9:24 into the frame when Geekie knocked the puck out of the air after it hit Bjarnason’s chest and bounced out.

Geekie took a double minor soon after, and the Wheat Kings had good pressure but were unable to finish the job. The Ice had no such difficulties on their next opportunity, with Nash scoring when the puck popped to him in the slot after a shot block.

Even though they had to kill four minutes in penalties, the hosts outshot the visitors 18-6 in a dominant middle frame.

Despite being manhandled in the second period, Wheat Kings rookie defenceman Elick tied the game 2:07 into the third when the puck came back to him at the point and he ripped a slapshot past Hauser.

On the next shift, Nolan Ritchie took hooking and charging minors, and Winnipeg pressed but Bjarnason was terrific in denying several high-end opportunities. His persistence paid off when the teams returned to even strength after Polshakov took the puck in on the rush and put a shot just inside the post for his first of the season.

Brandon held the lead for six minutes, and then surrendered it with goals 76 seconds apart.

The Ice tied the game when the puck took a funny bounce past defenceman Logen Hammett and Ty Nash grabbed it. He raced into the Brandon zone and sent a pass to the front of the net, where Benson deflected it over the pad of the outstretched Bjarnason.

To compound Brandon’s misfortune, Brett Hyland took a checking-from-behind penalty just 21 seconds later in the offensive zone, and McClennon ripped a shot from the point through traffic and into the net with 4:25 remaining.

After a late power play was unsuccessful, Brandon pulled its goalie but was unable to find the equalizer.

“We did some good things,” MacGillivray said. “It was nice to see us be down at the start of the third and get ourselves back in the game and take the lead, and it was disappointing to lose that lead.

“The third goal, a puck bounced — the ice wasn’t great, the puck was bouncing all over — but they took advantage of it and credit to them, and then we didn’t get the kill at the end of the game when we needed it.

“That was disappointing but we showed well here tonight and played well at times and hung in against a good club and tried to steal the game but didn’t get it done. It wasn’t for a lack of effort.”

Bjarnason, whose night can be summed up by the fact he was named third star despite allowing four goals, made 38 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Hauser stopping 19 shots for the Ice. Brandon went 0-for-5 on the power play, with Winnipeg scoring twice in six chances.

MacGillivray said his team simply wasn’t able to capitalize on what later proved to be some massive turning points.

“We had two wide open nets when we didn’t put the puck in, we missed the net, whether the puck rolled or bounced,” he said. “The puck really didn’t bounce our way here tonight, that’s usually what it comes down to. If you look at their second goal on the power play, we kill a minute 59 and it bounces right off one of our guys right onto their stick and he taps it home.

“That’s one that went against us, and the third goal, it went off our guy’s stick when it was bouncing and he tried to keep it in and it didn’t work and it ends up in the back of our net to tie the game.

“It is what it is. They finished chances off and we didn’t.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without Evan Groening, Zach Turner and Eastyn Mannix … It was the last game for a while for Brandon youngsters Charlie Elick, Roger McQueen and Caleb Hadland, who headed Sunday to the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, which opens on Thursday in Langley and Delta, B.C. … On Saturday, the Ice acquired 19-year-old defenceman Graham Sward from the Spokane Chiefs for 18-year-old defenceman Jaren Brinson, a first-round pick in 2023, a third-round pick in 2025 as well as a second-round and fifth-round pick in 2026 … Danielson and Ritchie led the Wheat Kings with four shots each on net … The game took two hours, 36 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Winnipeg won 38-29 … Attendance wasn’t announced … The Ice reassigned forward Briley Wood of Rivers to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Neepawa Titans on Sunday. They acquired him from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Aug. 9 for a sixth-round pick in 2025 … The Wheat Kings return to action on Wednesday when the Everett Silvertips visit Westoba Place.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson