Wiens scores twice, Brandon tops P.A.

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This article was published 26/11/2023 (716 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jayden Wiens scored twice as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the host Prince Albert Raiders 3-1 to end their four-game road trip at .500 in Western Hockey League action at Art Hauser Centre on Sunday.

Brandon (11-11-4-1) received its other goal from Dominik Petr, with Niall Crocker replying for Prince Albert (13-12-0-2) in front of a crowd of 2,094.

In the other games on the five-day trip, Brandon beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-3 on Wednesday lost 2-0 to the Red Deer Rebels on Friday and fell 6-1 to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it was a nice effort under trying circumstances.

“I saw a real high-character win out of our group,” Murray said. “It was obviously a gruelling trip. When this game came on the schedule mid-summer, it was one of those ones when you go ‘Oh boy, how is this going to work out?’

“Our guys showed a lot of grit and a lot of character and I thought played a real solid 60-minute game tonight.”

After a scoreless first period — the closest the teams came to a goal was when Charlie Elick swept the puck away from the goal-line after it glanced off the pad of Brandon goalie Ethan Eskit — Wiens scored twice in the middle frame.

The Wheat Kings dominated the territorial play early in the second period and were soon rewarded. Just over three minutes into the period, Prince Albert goalie Chase Coward made a pad save on a shot by Charlie Elick but the puck bounced out to Nolan Flamand. The Brandon forward looked like he had the shot but instead sent a back-door pass to Wiens, who had an empty net for his seventh goal of the season.

Brandon extended the lead 16:36 into the period on their first man advantage. Brandon’s second power-play unit moved the puck around and Wiens, who was camped out in front of the net, knocked home a rebound off a shot by Flamand to give the pair two points each on the night.

Prince Albert’s stout forecheck finally put them on the scoreboard 6:50 into the third period. When Brandon failed to clear its zone, Rapid City’s Sloan Stanick created a give-and-go play between Crocker and Hayden Pakkala that made it 2-1.

But just 79 seconds later, Matteo Michels took a hard shot off the rush that bounced out to Petr in the slot, who found the mesh for his ninth goal of the season.

“This is a hard rink to play in, everything happens fast,” Murray said. “It has fast ice and it seems smaller than other rinks. You have nowhere to hide really, and you have to get to the dirty areas. I thought out guys did a pretty good job of that throughout the game.

“Our goals were well-executed — there were a couple of nice passing plays — but you have to get to the dirty areas like Jayden Wiens to get rewarded, which was great to see. The third one was a great response after they made it 2-1. I think it was two shifts later and we drive down the wall and take a hard shot at the net, and we’re driving the net and get rewarded with a nice rebound on our stick.”

After the Raiders pulled their goalie, Brandon nearly padded its lead on a long dump shot by Luke Shipley that hit the post, but it resulted in a faceoff in the Prince Albert zone with 40 seconds left. The hosts never seriously threatened again.

Eskit made 25 saves for the Wheat Kings after starter Carson Bjarnason came down with flu-like symptoms in the afternoon, with Coward stopping 28 shots for the Raiders.

“Eskit actually suffered a little bit of an ankle twist in warmup today before the game and we were going ‘Oh boy. Do we have a goalie to play tonight?’” Murray said. “I’m really happy for Ethan. He’s given us a chance to win here in his last few starts and we just haven’t had the run support. We’re able to get him some goals, and it was nice to see him get rewarded for his play.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without healthy scratches D Tre Fouquette, F Hayden Wheddon and F Evan Groening … Caleb Hadland led the Wheat Kings with four shots on net … The game took a lightning-fast two hours, nine minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 30-21 … Brandon went 1-for-2 on the power play, with Prince Albert unsuccessful in three chances … Brandon skates again on home ice next Friday when the Regina Pats visit Westoba Place.

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