Shorthanded goals burn Wheat Kings in loss to Hitmen

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/03/2025 (243 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ethan Moore scored twice and Tanner Howe had a goal and an assist as the Calgary Hitmen beat the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 4-1 in Western Hockey League action at Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday afternoon.

Dax Williams also scored for Calgary (41-15-3-3), with the hometown kid Nick Johnson replying for Brandon (33-22-4-3) in front of a crowd of 6,034.

With the loss, Brandon remains a point back of the Prince Albert Raiders (34-22-5-1) and tied with the Saskatoon Blades (33-21-3-4) in the battle for the East Division crown. Saskatoon has a game in hand. Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oil Kings (34-25-2-2) moved a point ahead with their shootout victory over the Swift Current Broncos, knocking Brandon back into seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said the team actually started pretty well but some miscues cost them.

“I thought the first period was actually pretty good,” Murray said. “We had some good zone time and I thought we created a little bit. We were down 1-0 after one but I thought we generated some things. In the second period they got a couple. We were right there. We let up on a back check and we lost a guy off the draw and lost body position and the next thing you know it’s 3-0.

“Those were kind of the daggers throughout the game. We did some decent things but I think one of the biggest things is we need to find our offensive touch again.”

The Wheat Kings had an excellent opportunity to make a quick impact on the game when Hitmen forward Carson Birnie took a double minor for high sticking one minutes 38 seconds into the game. That soured 26 seconds later when Brandon goaltender Ethan Eskit came out of his net to play the puck but his pass was intercepted by Howe, who had an empty net to score in.

“That’s tough,” Murray said. “There’s nothing anybody can do about it. He tried to move the puck up and heeled it and unfortunately they ended up burning us. It was a tough way to start the game but I thought we bounced back pretty good even though it was unfortunate.”

Brandon had five shots on the power play but couldn’t beat a perennial thorn in their sides, former Winnipeg Ice goaltender Daniel Hauser.

Calgary went to their first power play late in the period, but after Sawyer Mynio high sticked Brandon’s Quinn Mantei and the Hitmen bench took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, the Wheat Kings had an extended four-on-three power play.

After the teams returned to five-on-five play, Hauser denied Jaxon Jacobson with his pad on a feed by Jordan Gavin on a three-on-one off a Calgary turnover.

The Hitmen made it 2-0 on a three-on-two 9:43 into the middle frame. The puck was moved across by Howe and missed Mynio in the middle but landed on the stick of Moore, who lifted the puck over a sprawling Eskit.

They made it 3-0 off a faceoff six minutes later after Williams picked up the puck along the boards off the draw and went to the net. Eskit made the initial save but as he was down on the ice trying to cover the puck, Williams was left unguarded and lifted the puck over him into the net.

Brandon had a fifth power play midway through the third period but Calgary once again had the best chance with Eskit out of his cage.

The goalie was behind the net gathering up a shorthanded dump-in when he passed the puck to defenceman Luke Shipley. Unfortunately for both of them, it hit Shipley’s skate and bounced out to Birnie, who had a wide open net. At the same moment, Eskit dove across the crease along the ice from the other side of the net and robbed Birnie of a sure goal.

The Wheat Kings finally broke Hauser’s long shutout streak against them — he had a 5-0 victory in the last game between the teams — when Nguyen went behind the net and came out front, where he fired a shot at the goalie. Johnson fought for the rebound on the far side of the net, and as he did, the Calgary defenceman Williams accidentally fired the puck into his own net with 5:27 remaining.

The Wheat Kings pulled Eskit with two minutes left, and had a power play for the last 90 seconds. Brandon had lots of zone time, although Calgary did a good job of pinning the puck against the boards to run the clock out.

With 14.8 seconds left, however, the puck popped into the Calgary slot and Moore scored into the empty net for a second shorthanded goal by the Hitmen.

The Calgarian Eskit made 36 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Hauser stopping 30 shots for the Hitmen. Brandon went 0-for-6 on the power play, with Calgary unsuccessful in three chances.

Brandon once again played with a shortened roster as they dressed five defencemen, with Merrek Arpin and Adam Belusko both missing the game.

In addition, Roger McQueen was given the game off as a maintenance day with some soreness after playing three games this week after missing nearly four months of action. Ben Binder Nord and Easton Odut were also out due to injury.

Brandon’s injury woes resurfaced 9:11 into the second period when Jacobson left the game for good after getting tied up in front of the net. Murray said he re-aggravated an existing injury, and that no immediate update on his status was available.

During the four-game trip to Alberta, Brandon fell 4-2 to the Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday, beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-2 on Wednesday and were defeated 3-1 to Lethbridge on Friday.

“It’s a tough trip,” Murray said. “There are some really, really good teams in this division. I wouldn’t tell it to the guys but I thought if we were 2-2 on the trip we would be satisfied somewhat … I think the one in Red Deer kind of stings a little bit, and not getting it done there.”

ICINGS: Calgary star Oliver Tulk, who is fifth in league scoring, left the game late in the first period and didn’t return … Calgary wore orange “Every child Matters” jerseys … Nguyen led the Wheat Kings with six shots on net … The game took two hours, 21 minutes to play … Calgary dominated the faceoff circle, winning 38-15 … The Wheat Kings host the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday at Westoba Place in their next action. The game starts at 6 o’clock instead of 7 to accommodate an NHL legends game taking place once it ends. The second game is included in the ticket price.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson