Jacobson lifts Wheaties in OT

Jaxon Jacobson scored his second goal of the game in overtime as the Brandon Wheat Kings weathered an unlikely comeback by the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers to post a 6-5 victory in Western Hockey League action at Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Saturday.

Brandon (9-9-1-0) also received two goals from Brady Turko and singles from Luke Mistelbacher and Jordan Gavin, with Bryce Pickford sniping twice for Medicine Hat (11-6-3-1) and Carter Cunningham, Cam Parr and Liam Ruck also sniping in front of a crowd of 2,920.

The Wheat Kings beat the Tigers 7-4 in Medicine Hat a week ago.

“It’s awesome to get a win, especially against a good team,” Jacobson said. “We’ve had some success against them already this year and it’s good to get another one. We just have to keep it going. We have to get something going for a long streak, not just a short one.”

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his club, which seems pathologically incapable of doing anything the easy way this season, didn’t have its best night, especially when it gave up two goals with the Tigers goalie pulled in the final three minutes.

“I thought we were on our heels a little bit tonight at times,” Murray said. “We had a good push at the start of the third period and got up 5-3 and ultimately it would have been nice to close the game out. We had a power play and hit the post and we let them hang around. We gave up two 6-on-5 goals to tie it but ultimately found a way to get two points in the end.”

Brandon’s lethal offensive ability off the rush showcased itself early when Nick Johnson found Turko streaking down the wing and the McCreary product cut hard to the net and beat Medicine Hat goalie Jordan Switzer with Brandon’s first shot, which came two minutes 11 seconds into the opening frame.

“It was just backchecking and then we turned the puck over,” Turko said. “I got some speed up the right-side wall and Johnny made a good pass to me and I made a good move and beat the goalie.”

The lead didn’t last, with the Tigers tying it two minutes later when Jonas Woo found Cunningham in the slot and he beat Brandon goalie Filip Ruzicka between the legs through a screen.

Medicine Hat took the lead at the 9:19 mark on an odd one. Parr was sent in on a breakaway on a terrific stretch pass by Dayton Reschny, but was intercepted by Brandon defenceman Daniil Skvortsov. The Tigers forward lost the puck as they came together but it trickled past Ruzicka into the net.

The goals just kept coming, with Brandon taking the lead again before the period ended. Just four minutes later, Easton Odut — who was making his return to the lineup after missing seven games due to an upper-body injury — whirled and made a terrific pass to Mistelbacher at the side of the net for the overage forward’s 15th goal in 19 games.

Then, with exactly 48 seconds left in the period, Chase Surkan delivered the puck along the end boards to Johnson, who sent another pass in front to Turko for a quick shot into the net, and the Wheat Kings led 3-2 after 20 action-packed minutes.

“It’s definitely nice to be in a groove right now,” Turko said. “It’s nice to contribute toward the team.”

Brandon had three power plays in the first 25 minutes of the game but the Wheat Kings struggled to even get the puck into the Medicine Hat zone as the Tigers stacked up on the blue-line and didn’t allow the hosts to enter the zone with speed.

The puck went into the Brandon goal with 6:22 left in the second period during a wild scramble after Cunningham fell on Ruzicka, but the goal was immediately waved off.

On the next shift, Switzer had to be sharp when the puck hit a skate in front of him off a Brandon rush, but he was able to make a pad save. At the other end, Ruzicka robbed Liam Ruck when the Wheat Kings got a little too cute trying to make a breakout pass and the second-year forward was left all alone in front.

The Tigers evened the game with 2:49 left in the middle frame when Ruzicka made the first save but couldn’t corral the rebound, and Pickford banked it in off the Czech netminder’s left pad.

Brandon regained the lead 4:26 into the third period on a smart play by Joby Baumuller, who lifted a bounce pass into the neutral zone. Gavin scooped it up and headed down the ice on a breakaway, tucking the puck through Klassen’s five-hole.

The hosts took a two-goal lead four minutes later when Jacobson cleaned up on a third rebound after Switzer had already denied Mistelbacher twice and Caleb Hadland.

The Tigers pulled the goalie for an extra attacker with 3:24 remaining in regulation and down two goals, and it actually worked. Ruck beat Ruzicka cleanly with 2:02 left, and the puck immediately went back to the Brandon zone, and Pickford tied it with 70 seconds left on a shot through traffic.

“It was definitely not a great feeling being up two goals in the last two minutes of the game but good teams find a way to come through and win,” Turko said of the feeling on the bench. “That’s we did.”

That sent the game to overtime, and just nine seconds in, Misha Volotovskii had a dangerous chance when he came in all alone, but Ruzicka stood tall.

The game turned on a defensive play by Joby Baumuller, who outbattled Markus Ruck for the puck, with the Tigers forward falling to the ice. Ruck tried to flick the puck back to a teammate but Jacobson intercepted the pass and headed up the ice with Baumuller in hot pursuit.

As defenceman Kyle Heger tried to catch him, Jacobson fired a shot from the circle into the top corner over Switzer’s blocker to win the game 1:36 into extra time.

“I honestly wasn’t too sure if we got a penalty or not in our D-zone,” Jacobson said. “I didn’t really see what happened but the puck popped out and I had a lot of open ice. I fired it and it went in. It was nice to see it got in finally.”

Jacobson added he took a quick look back and knew he had Baumuller with him and defenceman Greyson Burzynski streaking up the far side, but the WHL’s assists leader elected to shoot anyway.

“I had a step on the guy coming back,” Jacobson said. “I work on that shot a lot on my own time and I figured I wanted to try it in a game. It ended up working out so I was happy.”

Ruzicka made 43 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Switzer stopping 25 shots for the Tigers.

Brandon went 0-for-5 on the power play, with Medicine Hat unsuccessful in one chance.

Medicine Hat head coach Willie Desjardins was happy his club’s effort, which came one night after they beat the Regina Pats 4-3 in overtime.

“I thought we played really hard today,” Desjardins said. “Brandon has a really good team, they’re really explosive. They’re tough wherever you play them, they beat us in our building. I was proud of my guys today. I thought they played hard.”

The Wheat Kings head out on the road next week, visiting the Moose Jaw Warriors on Tuesday, the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday and the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday.

Murray said it will be nice to head out with another win under their belts. “We’re going on the road next week and it’s a good team we played here tonight,” Murray said. “We’re still in the middle of November but we see how tight the standings are and any points are critical. It’s good for us to get the two tonight.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin, D Adam Hlinsky and F Ryan Boyce, plus healthy scratches F Gunnar Gleasman and F Prabh Bhathal … Burzynski appeared in his 250th WHL game … Tom Wenham worked in his 1,000th home game for the Wheat Kings. He has served the club in a variety of capacities in their game-day production … Kadon McCann had three assists for Medicine Hat, while Surkan and Johnson both had a pair of helpers for Brandon … Jacobson, Baumuller and Mistelbacher led the Wheat Kings with five shots each on net. Pickford led all shooters with 11 … The game took two hours, 23 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Medicine Hat won 33-30 … Brandon’s next home game is on Nov. 28 when the Raiders visit.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

 

SATURDAY
Wheat Kings 6, Tigers 5 (OT)
First Period
1. Brandon, Turko 8 (Johnson, Surkan) 2:11.
2. Medicine Hat, Cunningham 4 (Woo, McCann) 4:13.
3. Medicine Hat, Parr 1 (Reschny,Dayton Reschny Steen) 9:19.
4. Brandon, Mistelbacher 15 (Odut, Jacobson) 13:57.
5. Brandon, Turko 9 (Johnson, Surkan) 19:12.
Penalties — M. Ruck MH (hooking) 9:53, Reschny MH (hooking) 19:38.
Second Period
6. Medicine Hat, Pickford 10 (L. Ruck) 17:11.
Penalties — Heger MH (interference) 3:59, Johnson Bdn (fighting major) 7:19, Steen MH (fighting major) 7:19, Woo MH (tripping) 17:38, Surkan Bdn (high sticking) 19:33.
Third Period
7. Brandon, Gavin 7 (Baumuller) 4:26.
8. Brandon, Jacobson 6 (Hadland, Mistelbacher) 8:24.
9. Medicine Hat, L. Ruck 7 (Pickford, McCann) 17:58.
10. Medicine Hat, Pickford 11 (Woo, McCann) 18:50.
Penalties — Woo MH (interference) 9:00.
Overtime
11. Brandon,Jacobson 7 (unassisted) 1:36.
Penalties — None.
Shots on goal by
Brandon     9     9     12 1    —     31
Medicine Hat     11     18     18 1 —     48
Goal — Brandon: Ruzicka (OTW, 7-3-0-0). Medicine Hat: Switzer (OTL, 7-3-1-1).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 0-5; Medicine Hat: 0-1.
Referees — Bob Millette, Bryce Sebastian.
Linesmen — Andrew Paul, Cole Breitkreuz.
Attendance — 2,920 in Brandon.