Wheat Kings sloppy but double up Blazers

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This article was published 23/01/2025 (239 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings played a little pond hockey with the Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday, trading chances in a 6-3 victory in Western Hockey League action at Sandman Centre.

Brandon (22-15-3-2) received two goals from Brady Turko and singles from Carter Klippenstein, Quinn Mantei, Nolan Flamand and Caleb Hadland, with Tommy Lafreniere, Max Sullivan and Emmitt Finnie replying for Kamloops (15-24-3-0) in front of a crowd of 3,387.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his team, which was playing back-to-back games for the first time on the trip, was a little looser than it had been previously.

“Just in the first period we must have given up eight odd-man rushes,” Murray said. “I thought we were real sloppy with our puck management at the blue-line and through the evening. If you look at the game sheet, Barney (goalie Carson Bjarnason) gives up three but he was probably the difference in the game.

“Early in the game he made a couple of ridiculous saves and the penalty shot in the third period could have made it 5-4. He was really good tonight, and our offensive output in the second half period was huge but we probably got away with one a little bit.”

With the win, Brandon is 3-3-0-0 in the first six games of their seven-game road swing.

Brandon lost 4-2 to the Calgary Hitmen, 5-3 to the Everett Silvertips and 3-1 to the Vancouver Giants, and also beat the Victoria Royals 5-4 and the Kelowna Rockets 7-3.

Brandon finishes up on Friday when they visit the Prince George Cougars at 9 p.m. CST.

“I would argue that we probably deserved better in Everett and Vancouver as well,” Murray said. “We didn’t give up a ton in Kelowna, we didn’t give up a ton in Vancouver, we didn’t give up a ton in Everett. Hockey is a funny game. I guess at this point of the trip we’ll take them if we can get them.”

Brandon nearly took the lead three minutes into the first period but instead ended up down a goal.

Wheat Kings forward Nick Johnson beat Kamloops goalie Dylan Ernst but hit the crossbar and the puck came back down the ice. Bjarnason made a terrific save on Jordan Keller, who came in all alone, but the effort pulled him out of position and Lafreniere had an empty net for his 17th goal.

Brandon squared the game five minutes later when Dominik Petr intercepted a clearing attempt along the boards and whirled and fired a pass down low. Klippenstein was all alone and snuck the puck around Ernst eight minutes 53 seconds into the affair.

Brandon got a little help of their own from the iron when Blazers forward Beau Courtney created a turnover at the Wheat Kings blue-line and hit the post behind Bjarnason’s blocker.

The Wheat Kings had done a good job killing the first Blazers penalty until they couldn’t get a clean clear of the puck and it ended up on the stick of John Szabo in the slot. He made a nice pass to the side of the net to Sullivan for a tap-in and it was 2-1.

The visitors were fortunate to stay close and had Bjarnason to thank because the big goaltender made miraculous glove saves on a broken play on a three-on two, and a minute later, on a back-door feed.

The Wheat Kings promptly gave up a two-on-one to start the second period but tied the game at the 3:18 mark after Klippenstein dished the puck to Turko off a turnover and he fired it home.

Brandon continued to play loose defensively and allowed a breakaway to Jordan Keller 39 seconds later. Bjarnason stopped the shot but defenceman Adam Belusko was flagged for hooking, sending Brandon to its second penalty kill.

This time it worked out a lot better for the visitors, with Matteo Michels carrying the puck into the Kamloops zone and then finding Mantei in the slot for a shot that went bar down to put Brandon up 3-2.

The goal came 69 seconds after the first one and 20 seconds into the Kamloops power play.

Turko got his second of the game during an odd-man rush. He showed pass and then beat Ernst low on the short side with a quick shot that was only the 12th puck Brandon put on net.

The Wheat Kings made it 5-2 when Brandon moved the puck around on their first power play and Dominik Petr found Flamand down low for his 16th goal of the season, which came in the 250th regular-season game of his career.

Brandon’s four goals came in just over eight minutes.

But just 45 seconds later, Matteo Koci intercepted a pass in the Kamloops zone and got it up to Finnie, who beat Luke Shipley down low and made a nice move around Bjarnason to draw Kamloops back within two goals at 5-3.

Brandon went back to the penalty kill in the final 34 seconds of the period and were fortunate recipients of another puck off the crossbar to keep it 5-3 after 40 minutes.

A wild sequence awaited in the the third period.

Marcus Nguyen had a breakway and was denied, and Sullivan steamed up the ice on a breakaway in the other direction but was hooked by rookie defenceman Gio Pantelas.

The 18-year-old forward from Calgary was awarded a penalty shot and made a tremendous cutback move but Bjarnason kept the puck out with one of his long legs.

The parade of chances continued the other way, with Ernst denying Joby Baumuller on yet another breakaway a minute later.

Baumuller took a penalty with 1:55 remaining and Kamloops pulled Ernst for the six-on-four man advantage, although they failed to create much.

After a delayed offside at the Brandon blue-line, Mantei had lots of time to find Flamand up the ice, and the overager got the puck into the middle for Hadland’s shorthanded, empty-net goal with 25.2 seconds remaining.

Bjarnason made 31 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Ernst stopping 24 shots for the Blazers. Brandon went 1-for-2 on the power play, with Kamloops scoring once in four chances but allowing the two shorthanded goals.

“We gave up a power-play goal early but I think we got a power-play goal of our own and two shorties,” Murray said. “It was a big part of the game obviously. Our special teams, both penalty kill and power play, have been really good lately. I think the magic mark is you want to have the two combined above 105 per cent and we eclipsed that after last night’s game.”

With the end of the two-week odyssey nearing, Brandon now has a chance to win more than they lose on the trip, which historically hasn’t treated them kindly.

“We were 1-3 just 48 hours ago and we have the opportunity to be over .500 on this road trip, which you would take probably when you go out on the West Coast road trip,” Murray said. “It’s right in front of us. We get a day off tomorrow (Thursday) to travel and hopefully we’re sharp and can round it out one more time to finish the trip over .500.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured forwards Roger McQueen and Easton Odut … D Merrek Arpin remains away from the team as he attends to a family emergency … F Ben Binder Nord missed a second game due to illness … The Kamloops scratches included injured D Harrison Brunicke, who has only played 15 games this season season. The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect reportedly sustained a broken wrist on Nov. 11 and remains out week to week … Brandon played for the first time against former Wheat Kings defenceman Rhett Ravndahl, who was traded to Kamloops at the deadline … When Brandon scored on the power play, it was the ninth goal Kamloops had given up in its previous 14 penalty kills over seven games … Brandon’s road win was its 12th of the season. They’ve won 10 at home … Baumuller, Klippenstein, Turko and Flamand led the Wheat Kings with three shots on net each … The game took two hours, 18 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 35-25 … Brandon is tied with the Prince Albert Raiders with 49 points apiece, two back of the Saskatoon Blades in the East Division race. The two division winners earn the top seeds in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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LATE WEDNESDAY

Wheat Kings 6, Blazers 3

First Period

1. Kamloops, Lafreniere 17 (Keller) 3:30.

2. Brandon, Klippenstein 7 (Petr) 8:51.

3. Kamloops, Sullivan 6 (Szabo, Shtrom) 15:09 (pp).

Penalties — Mantei Bdn (hooking) 13:34.

Second Period

4. Brandon, Turko 6 (Klippenstein) 3:18.

5. Brandon, Mantei 6 (Michels) 4:27 (sh).

6. Brandon, Turko 7 (Gavin) 7:05.

7. Brandon, Flamand 16 (Petr, Mantei) 11:32 (pp).

8. Kamloops, Finnie 4 (Koci) 12:17.

Penalties — Belusko Bdn (slashing) 4:07, Gugyelka Kam (tripping) 10:31, Petr Bdn (tripping) 19:26.

Third Period

9. Brandon, Hadland 17 (Flamand, Mantei) 19:34 (en) (sh).

Penalty shot: Sullivan, Kam, miss, 7:16.

Penalties — Thomson Kam (slashing) 14:19, Baumuller Bdn (tripping) 18:05.

Shots on goal by

Brandon 7 15 8 — 30

Kamloops 14 9 12 — 35

Goal — Brandon: Bjarnason (W, 9-10-2-0). Kamloops: Ernst (W or L, 12-15-2-0).

Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 1-2; Kamloops: 1-4.

Referees — Mike Campbell, Brandon Koop.

Linesmen — Riley Balson, Ethan Crawford.

Attendance — 3,387 in Kamloops.