Wheat Kings blank Hurricanes again

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This article was published 08/03/2024 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The visiting Brandon Wheat Kings gained points on all three teams chasing them in the Eastern Conference as they shut out the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-0 in Western Hockey League action at Enmax Centre on Friday.

Carson Bjarnason made 23 saves for the Wheat Kings, and Matteo Michels, Joby Baumuller, Jayden Wiens and Brett Hyland scored for Brandon in front of a crowd of 4,197 as they snapped a five-game losing streak.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said a strong opening 20 minutes was key.

“I liked a lot about our game,” Murray said. “I thought especially in the last 10 in the first period we came along real well. We had a couple of big penalty kills in the first 10 and a big goal by Michels that seemed to inject more life into us and another big one by Baumuller followed up to get us up 2-0 after one. That was big.”

After Friday’s action, the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff race remains a jumble as four teams battle for three spots, but the Wheat Kings did gain a bit of breathing room.

• Sixth-place Brandon (30-26-6-1, 67 points, five games remaining).

• Seventh-place Lethbridge (29-27-5-0, 63 points, seven games remaining).

• Eighth-place Prince Albert Raiders (29-27-2-3, 63 points, seven games remaining). They fell 3-2 in overtime to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

• Ninth-place Calgary Hitmen (26-28-7-1, 60 points, six games remaining). They fell 4-3 to the Red Deer Rebels.

“I’d be lying if I said we weren’t watching between periods, and after the game, the game between Calgary and Red Deer,” Murray said. “It was big. Without a doubt we let some slip away with losing (2-1) to P.A., and then against Calgary. There was some pressure tonight, no question. Everybody feels it so it was massive to get the win tonight and even bigger that the other teams behind lost as well.”

In a terrific first period for the visitors, Michels scored first when he undressed a Hurricanes defender with a toe-drag and deposited the puck upstairs in a highlight reel goal as Carter Klippenstein went hard to the net. Klippenstein, a Lethbridge product, drew an assist on the goal, which came 13 minutes 41 seconds into the opening period.

Almost exactly three minutes later, the rookie Baumuller blasted a one-time shot from the slot that beat Lethbridge goalie Harrison Meneghin over his blocker.

The Wheat Kings led the shot clock by a margin of 17-6 after 20 minutes, and although they had to kill two penalties, only allowed two shots on the power play.

The visitors continued the barrage early in the second period. Wiens tallied his fourth rebound goal of the trip just 41 seconds into the second period when his second shot went through the legs of Meneghin.

The Hurricanes began to push back, however, especially because the Wheat Kings kept sending them to the power play. And while they didn’t score, it put more pressure on Brandon’s top players on the penalty kill as they played their third game in four nights.

But the Wheat Kings did a solid job of filling shooting lanes and blocking shots, including a Lethbridge shot Caleb Hadland took off his foot in the second period that ended his night early.

“It’s a big time buy-in,” Murray said. “I think the guys recognize the importance of it. We had a couple early in the year where guys weren’t in the shot lane and everybody knows it and everybody sees it.

“Once you gets guys one by one buying in that and doing the job, you get left in the dust if you’re not doing it. If you get a contribution from everyone, that’s a sign of good things and our guys were excellent.”

The Wheat Kings put the game away 51 seconds into the third period when Wiens fed Hyland in the slot for a one-timer that gave the overager his team-leading 31st goal of the season and first since being named captain.

It certainly helped in the win that Brandon didn’t allow a shot on net for the first nine minutes of the final frame.

The Hurricanes pulled the goalie with 5:29 remaining for a six-on-four power play, but weren’t successful as the Wheat Kings killed their fifth of five penalties on the night. Meneghin was pulled again with 1:39 left in regulation but the hosts didn’t create much.

“We had four different goal scorers but everybody chipped in,” Murray said. “I thought our guys did an exceptional job of getting in shot lanes tonight and that was a big part of the game. Barney was a wall in there when things did get through.”

In the four-game series this season, Brandon held Lethbridge to just one goal as they went 4-0-0-0. The Wheat Kings last shut out an opponent three times in season in 2015-16 when they did it to the Regina Pats, but that was in eight games.

“It’s mind boggling,” Murray said. “I think we’ve had really good goaltending in all the games we played against them. You could feel the frustration in their game too. I think they had some shots where they missed the net and combined with the buy-in of blocking shots, that leads to good things for us.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without F Matt Henry (third of six-game suspension) and F Roger McQueen (upper body, week to week) … Lethbridge was without their leading goal scorer, overage forward Sean Tschigerl … Meneghin has 26 of Lethbridge’s 29 wins this season. He stopped 25 shots for the Hurricanes … Brandon went 0-for-2 on the power play … Wiens and Nick Johnson led the Wheat Kings with four shots each on net … The game took two hours, 19 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 25-21 … The road trip ends in Swift Current for a game against the Broncos on Saturday

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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