Broncos stave off Wheat Kings rally

The Swift Current Broncos built a 4-0 lead and then hung on for a 5-4 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in Western Hockey League action at Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Sunday.

Swift Current (5-3-0-0) received its goals from Zach Pantelakis, Stepan Kuryachenkov, Josh McGregor, Sawyer Dingman and Hudson Darby, with Luke Mistelbacher scoring twice and Caleb Hadland and Joby Baumuller adding singles for Brandon (1-5-1-0) in front of a crowd of 2,009.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it was another night his club just couldn’t get enough pucks to go into the net.

“The first period was pretty flat,” Murray said. “I thought last game our power play generated some momentum for us in the first period and tonight it got us back on our heels and we just couldn’t seem to get it going. We had a lot of shots and had some real good looks and just couldn’t get it done.

“We had a big push in the third period but it was too little, too late.”

After an unsuccessful Brandon power play three minutes into the game when they didn’t create anything, the Wheat Kings returned the favour and the visitors made no mistake with the man advantage. A tic-tac-toe play put the puck on the stick of Pantelakis and he had a two-foot shot into an open net six minutes 43 seconds into the game.

It was the seventh game in a row this season Brandon has surrendered the first goal.

The Wheat Kings promptly took another penalty and the Broncos scored again just over two minutes later, with Kuryachenkov wiring a shot past Brandon goalie Jayden Kraus as former Wheat Kings forward Tony Wilson provided a screen in front for his hometown club.

At that point, the Broncos had connected on two of their three shots, and the Wheat Kings were trailing by two goals in the first period for the third game in a row, and the fourth time this season.

“This is our barn and we can’t make it easy on opposing teams coming here,” Murray said. “It’s a problem, and something we continue to talk about. Maybe we talk about it too much and it does something to their psyche but it’s a problem getting down 2-0. It’s hard to claw back.”

Rookie defenceman Max Lavoie, who earned his first WHL point later in the game, agreed with his coach.

“It’s really hard,” Lavoie said. “Hockey is 60 minutes for a reason and we just have to find our legs in the first. It’s inexcusable. We just have to prepare better and come out better.”

Brandon had three power plays in the first period and didn’t create much despite lots of zone time.

The Wheat Kings appeared to break through 18:11 into the period when Johnson jumped on a rebound and swept it behind Swift Current goalie Joey Rocha, but the play went to a video review and was judged to be no goal due to goaltender interference.

The second period started even worse. The Brandonite McGregor sent a shot that Kraus got a piece of with his glove but the puck fluttered into the net to make it 3-0 just 2:47 into the period, spelling the end of the veteran goaltender’s night. That brought in big rookie Filip Ruzicka, but not much changed, with Dingman left all alone after a turnover high in the zone and he made it 4-0 just 37 seconds later.

At that point, Swift Current had four goals on seven shots.

Brandon finally showed some life 6:03 into the period when Jaxon Jacobson found Mistelbacher in front of the net for his fourth goal of the season. Swift Current’s Darby restored the four-goal lead four minutes later, but Hadland then scored on a rebound off a shot by Lavoie to make it 5-2 with half the game remaining.

Four minutes into the third period, the Wheat Kings got themselves in some trouble when they took twin minor penalties to hand a two-minute, five-on-three power play to the Broncos, but the hosts did some strong penalty killing and didn’t allow much.

Brandon defenceman Cam Allard rang hit a shot off the post just after the kill ended, narrowly missing out on his first WHL goal.

Swift Current did a good job defending the lead with a multitude of shot blocks, but with 4:28 remaining in regulation, defenceman Gio Pantelas made a pass to the side of the crease where Baumuller was camped out and he made it a two-goal game.

“It was a change off the bench and I came into the zone and saw that Jaxon was driving behind the net and hit Gio with a pass,” Baumuller said. “I went right backdoor, where a lot of rebounds came out in the game, and Gio hit me with a pass and I put the puck in the back of the net.”

Brandon pulled Ruzicka with 3:12 left and Mistelbacher scored his second of the game with a wicked shot into the top of the net 61 seconds later.

Ruzicka left the net again with 1:57 remaining, and the Wheat Kings put on a furious charge but failed to find the equalizer.

In the end, they outshot the visitors 45-17.

Kraus and Ruzicka combined to make 12 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Rocha stopping 41 shots for the Broncos.

Brandon went 0-for-4 on the power play, with Swift Current scoring twice in five chances.

Swift Current head coach Dean DeSilva said it was a tale of two different games for his club.

“I saw a team that played very well for a portion of the game and then we got a little bit of a lead,” DeSilva said. “We played the right way to get that lead and then we had a lot of players who thought it was point night and they stopped playing, and that gave the other team momentum and the other team made some really good plays.

“If it wasn’t for Joey Rocha, we would have blown that lead and lost the game, and as a young team, we have to learn from that.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin and D Adam Hlinsky, plus healthy scratches G Hudson Perry and F Easton Odut and F Ryan Boyce … Dingman has four goals this season. The 17-year-old forward had three last year in 59 games as a rookie. His father Chris, a Wheat Kings legend, was in attendance … A penalty assessed to the Wheat Kings after a big hit by Gunnar Gleasman drew loud boos from the crowd … Jacobson and Mistelbacher were both +3 to lead all skaters on both teams … Baumuller and Mistelbacher led the Wheat Kings with seven shots each on net … The game took two hours, 35 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon dominated 45-28, with Jacobson winning 20 of his 29 draws … The Wheat Kings next see action on Thursday when the Kamloops Blazers visit at 7 p.m.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson

 

SUNDAY
Broncos 5, Wheat Kings 4
First Period
1. Swift Current, Pantelakis 4 (Darby, McGregor) 6:43 (pp).
2. Swift Current, Kuryachenkov 3 (McFaul, Kosick) 8:59 (pp).
Penalties — Yerex SC (tripping) 2:50, Bhathal Bdn (boarding) 5:20, Baumullerr Bdn (cross checking) 5:54, Kuryachenkov SC (embellishment) 5:54, Burzynski Bdn (boarding) 8:14, Dingman SC (tripping) 9:37, Gray SC (holding) 13:06, Johnson Bdn (fighting major) 18:35, Pantelas Bdn (roughing) 18:35, Pantelakis SC (fighting major) 18:35, Darby SC (roughing) 18:35.
Second Period
3. Swift Current, McGregor 2 (Kosick, Wilson) 2:47.
4. Swift Current, Dingman 4 (Darby) 3:24.
5. Brandon, Mistelbacher 4 (Jacobson, Allard) 6:03.
6. Swift Current, Darby 4 (Pantelakis, Moen) 10:31.
7. Brandon, Hadland 2 (Lavoie, Jacobson) 12:18.
Penalties — Gleasman Bdn (10-minute misconduct) 3:24, Klippenstein Bdn (roughing) 3:24, Boehm Bdn (roughing) 12:58, McGregor SC (roughing) 12:58,
Third Period
8. Brandon, Baumuller 2 (Pantelas, Johnson) 15:32.
9. Brandon, Mistelbacher 5 (Jacobson, Burzynski) 17:47.
Penalties — Gleasman Bdn (charging) 3:45, Bench minor Bdn (coach) 3:45, Kuryachenkov SC (slashing) 9:33.
Shots on goal by
Brandon     10     19     16     —     45
Swift Current     5     8     4     —     17
Goal (shots-saves) — Brandon: Kraus (6-3) ) (L, 0-4-1-0), Ruzicka (3:24, 2nd period) (11-9). Swift Current: Rocha (45-41) (W, 5-1-0-0).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 0-4; Swift Current: 2-5.
Referees — Ridge Brooks, Ty Skene.
Linesmen — Nick Grenier, Matt Granger.
Attendance — 2,009 in Brandon.