Wheat Kings blow lead, fall in OT

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This article was published 16/11/2024 (505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings blew another third-period lead and lost in overtime as Tye Spencer sniped to give the Regina Pats a 4-3 victory in Western Hockey League action at Westoba Place on Friday.

Tony Wilson, Connor Bear and Tanner Howe scored for Regina (6-11-1-1), which was playing its 5,000th junior hockey game. Brandon (9-5-3-1), meanwhile, received its goals from Dominik Petr, Nick Johnson and Marcus Nguyen in front of a crowd of 2,660.

The teams meet again tonight at Westoba Place at 7.

The loss especially rankled the Wheat Kings because the Prince Albert Raiders did the same thing to them last Saturday, coming back in the third period and winning in overtime at Westoba Place.

“There’s no really easy way of saying it,” Johnson said. “We have to close those games out, get pucks out and be strong in front of the net. We’ve done this the past couple of games and it’s not good enough.”

Petr agreed.

“I have no words,” Petr said. “It’s happened twice and we have to find a way to get out of it and come hard and strong (tonight).”

It was a tough turn of events for Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray, whose team played well enough at times to earn two points. But it didn’t happen, and the Wheat Kings are suddenly winless in three after a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Monday sandwiched in the middle of the two overtime losses.

“It was a frustrating game,” Murray said. “I thought we had enough chances to score on some goals tonight, and we didn’t and then we got a little light. Credit to Regina, they kept coming and didn’t give up.”

The game quickly turned into a fast-skating affair, with flurries of chances at both ends. The Pats counted first when a shot by Cohen Klassen hit the former Wheat Kings forward Wilson — who was playing his 200nd WHL game — and the puck ricocheted past Brandon goalie Carson Bjarnason.

The hosts tied it less than two minutes later when Petr picked up the puck near the boards along the goal line and fired a perfectly placed shot over the shoulder of Regina goalie Kelton Pyne from an almost impossible angle.

“To be honest, I’m trying that really often,” Petr said. “I’ve been working on it during the summer and I just didn’t get enough luck to score on it during the season. I got lucky enough tonight. It’s just put it on net, and I was lucky enough tonight that went into the back of the net.”

The Pats restored the lead five minutes later after a big shot from the slot by Braxton Whitehead hit Bjarnason high and bounced sharply into the slot, where Bear pounced on it and had a shot into an empty net.

Brandon nearly tied it up with three minutes remaining when overage forward Nolan Flamand beat Pyne cleanly but hit the post behind him.

Juts over a minute later, with 98 seconds left in the period, Johnson made his return to the lineup a triumph when he bulled his way to the front of the net and sent a shot past Pyne’s glove.

“It was a pretty simple play,” Johnson said. “Jaxon (Jacobson) kicked it out to me. There was a guy behind my back and I knew that getting the puck and was fortunate enough it was on my backhand. Jax kicked it out, drove the D-man back and I fired it. I was happy it went in.”

The big forward from Calgary was injured during the second game of the season on Sept. 21, also against Regina, after scoring a hat trick, and missed 15 games.

Brandon took its first lead six minutes 24 seconds into the second period off the rush on a power play when Petr carried the puck into the Regina zone and sent a quick pass across the zone to Nguyen for a tap-in goal.

The game, which had been absent of the extra-curricular nonsense that so often characterizes matchups between the old rivals, found them in the middle frame and the play slowed.

The teams traded penalties, and when Wilson’s high hit to Brady Turko’s face went uncalled, the Brandon bench drew a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct when they explained the error of referee Tarrington Wyonzek’s judgment to him a bit too indelicately.

Three minutes into the third period, Regina had a glorious opportunity to tie the game on a three-on-one but Cameron Kuzma shot wide. Minutes late, Pyne made an outstanding save on Joby Baumuller just after a Brandon power play ended when it appeared the second-year forward had an open net to tap in a rebound for a goal.

Regina hadn’t created much in the third period but they tied the game with 3:24 remaining when Howe knocked a loose puck into the net after they finally had some sustained zone time.

“The game-tying goal was disappointing,” Murray said. “I thought we were light around the net and when we need to be completely focused and all in and they ended up tying it.”

In overtime, Brandon once again never had possession of the puck, losing the opening faceoff. On Regina’s second foray into the zone, Brandonite Cole Temple set up Spencer for a blistering one-timer into the top of the net.

“It’s back-to-back games in overtime when we’ve lost and haven’t touched the puck,” Murray said. “Starting with the draw is critical, and then getting it back someway, somehow. There are a few times we had the opportunity but were a little loose in our coverage. They keep possession and make a play and it’s in the back of our net.”

Bjarnason made 27 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Pyne stopping 31 shots for the Pats.

Brandon went 1-for-2 on the power play, with Regina unsuccessful in three chances.

Regina head coach Brad Herauf said it was a good effort by his team.

“That’s our group,” Herauf said. “We have to battle for every inch that we get and we have to battle for every goal that we get. We stuck with it tonight and got some bounces that went our way that obviously helped us. We just stuck with it and things fell our way.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without healthy scratches D Nigel Boehm plus injured forwards Roger McQueen and Carter Klippenstein. Raiden Zacharias remains away at Junior A Challenge tryouts … The Moose Jaw Warriors added overage defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk of Star City, Sask., from the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers on Friday. He spent his first four WHL seasons with the Prince George Cougars but was released in September … The Warriors also traded 19-year-old import defenceman Vojtech Port to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday for 18-year-old defenceman Ryder Ellis of Meadow Lake, Sask., a third-round pick in 2025 and a second-round pick in 2027 … In another deal on Friday, the Kelowna Rockets sent Ethan Mittelsteadt, a local product in his 19-year-old season, to the Vancouver Giants for a seventh-round pick in 2025 and a fourth-round pick in 2027 … Brandon captain Quinn Mantei was also playing in his 200th game … Flamand, Baumuller and Johnson led the Wheat Kings with four shots each on net … The game took two hours, 17 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 25-20 … Next week, the Tri-City Americans visit on Friday and the Swift Current Broncos come to town on Saturday. Both games start at 7 o’clock.

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