Wheat Kings fall after another bad start

The struggling Brandon Wheat Kings had another terrible start and fell 6-4 to the Regina Pats in Western Hockey League action at Brandt Centre on Saturday.

Regina (2-6-1-0) received two goals from Ephram McNutt and singles from Zachary Lansard, Ruslan Karimov, Kolten Bridgeman and Caden Brown, with Carter Klippenstein, Joby Baumuller, Caleb Hadland and Chase Surkan replying for Brandon (2-6-1-0) in front of a crowd of 2,825

Brandon general manager and head coach Marty Murray said his club, which allowed the opponent to score first for the eighth time in eight games this season, simply doesn’t start on time.

“It’s incredibly frustrating, to be honest with you,” Murray said. “It was the difference in games where we came up short. You can’t do very well coming from behind all the time. It’s very frustrating, and the coaches and players have to take ownership.”

In the big book of lousy starts for the Wheat Kings this season, Saturday’s game was certainly another ugly chapter as the Wheat Kings were outshot 17-3 in the opening frame.

Brandon allowed the opening goal eight minutes 33 seconds into the game when Lansard walked into the slot and backhanded the puck behind Brandon goalie Filip Ruzicka. The shots were 9-0 for the Pats at that juncture, and it took the Wheat Kings just over 12 minutes to finally get a shot on net.

Karimov sniped four minutes after the opening goal for Regina as Brandon began running around in its zone, and at the 15:11 mark, McNutt made a highlight reel, end-to-end rush on the power play to put the Pats up 3-0.

It’s the fifth game in a row Brandon has fallen behind 2-0, and they’ve now been outscored 19-6 in the first period this season.

The Wheat Kings finally some showed some life early in the second frame when Baumuller rang a shot off the crossbar and the puck dropped behind Regina goalie Taylor Tabashniuk, with Klippenstein shovelling his second goal of the season into an empty net.

The teams then improbably traded a pair of 4-on-3 goals in a four-minute span, with Regina’s McNutt and Brandon’s Baumuller both leaning into one-timers.

The Wheat Kings struggled to stay out of the box at times and Regina restored the three-goal lead just after its fifth power play ended when Bridgeman scored.

Brandon had a terrific power play of its own early in the third period but rookie Chase Surkan hit the post and Jaxon Jacobson rang a shot off the crossbar to keep the game 5-2. The visitors inched back with nine minutes left when Cameron Allard’s shot hit someone in front, and Hadland shot the puck into the net as he was knocked to the ice.

Just over two minutes later, Surkan ripped a power-play shot from the slot past his former AAA teammate Tabashniuk to bring the visitors back within a goal with 6:24 remaining.

The Wheat Kings pulled Ruzicka with 2:10 remaining for the extra attacker, but Hadland took a penalty with 85 seconds left. The big goalie was pulled again as soon as Brandon gained possession but after Tabashniuk made a good save, Julien Maze made an unselfish pass to Brown to spring him for an empty-net breakaway with 7.8 seconds left to ice the game.

It was yet another late surge by a Wheat Kings club that simply ran out of time. While the flashes of dominance are encouraging for the coaching staff, Murray is struggling to find ways to get his players engaged earlier.

“I think switching up routines a little bit and looking at maybe even meeting times and what we’re doing in meetings,” Murray said. “It’s up to us to figure out solutions here but we’re at a level where you have to come ready to play and we haven’t, and it’s cost us points.”

Ruzicka made 32 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Tabashniuk stopping 14 shots for the Pats.

Brandon went 2-for-4 on the power play, with Regina scoring twice in seven chances.

“I thought at times we started to get some momentum going and then took some inopportune penalties at crucial times,” Murray said. “That ended up hurting us. It’s another one to add to the list of problems here.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without D Merrek Arpin, D Adam Hlinsky, D Gunnar Gleasman, F Prabh Bhathal and G Hudson Perry … Mistelbacher and Surkan led the Wheat Kings with four shots each net … The game took two hours, 26 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Regina won 34-29 … Brandon next sees action when the Lethbridge Hurricanes visit Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Saturday at 6 p.m., with the Moose Jaw Warriors facing off on Sunday at 4.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson

SATURDAY

Pats 6, Wheat Kings 4
First Period
1. Regina, Lansard 4 (Maze) 9:33.
2. Regina, Karimov 1 (Derkatch, Paranych) 13:23
3. Regina, McNutt 2 (Tabashniuk) 15:11 (pp).
Penalties — Klippenstein Bdn (tripping) 2:15, Boehm Bdn (cross checking) 14:07.
Second Period
4. Brandon, Klippenstein 2 (Baumuller, Gavin) 2:11.
5. Regina, McNutt 3 (Brown, Hamilton) 4:14 (pp).
6. Brandon, Baumuller 4 (Pantelas, Hadland) 8:19 (pp).
7. Regina, Bridgeman 1 (Mieyette, Paranych) 19:27.
Penalties — Burzynski Bdn (roughing) 2:39, Paull Reg (roughing) 2:39, Lavoie Bdn (tripping) 3:18, Lavoie Bdn (roughing) 6:13, McNutt Reg (roughing) 6:13, Karimov Reg (hooking) 8:04, Klassen Reg (goaltender interference) 11:13, Lavoie Bdn (interference) 15:16, Turko Bdn (tripping) 17:24.
Third Period
8. Brandon, Hadland 4 (Allard, Ronald) 11:02.
9. Brandon, Surkan 8 (Mistelbacher, Jacobson) 13:36 (pp).
10. Regina, Brown 4 (Maze, Hamilton) 19:52 (pp) (en).
Penalties — Kohn Reg Bdn (interference) 3:23, Klippenstein Bdn (goaltender interference) 5:42, Karimov Reg (slashing) 12:10, Hadland Bdn (roughing, 10-minute misconduct) 18:35.
Shots on goal by
Brandon     3     9     7     —     19
Regina     17     15     6     —     38
Goal — Brandon: Ruzicka (L, 2-2-0-0). Regina: Tabashniuk (W, 1-3-0-0).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 2-4; Regina: 2-7.
Referees — Adam Bloski, Brayden Glynn.
Linesmen — Tanner Hoffman, Brent Vandermeulen.
Attendance — 2,825 in Regina.