Gavin, Ruzicka lead Brandon to huge road win

Jordan Gavin had two goals and an assist and Filip Ruzicka made 34 saves as the short-staffed Brandon Wheat Kings topped the Saskatoon Blades 3-2 in Western Hockey League action at SaskTel Centre on Saturday.

Brandon (11-10-1-0), which was missing Jaxon Jacobson and Caleb Hadland from its top line after both were injured in Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Prince Albert Raiders, received its other goal from Luke Mistelbacher, with Hunter Laing and Tyler Parr replying for Saskatoon (14-9-2-0) in front of a crowd of 4,467.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said with the 6-4 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors on Tuesday and Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Prince Albert Raiders, it was a difficult week with three games in five days.

“I thought it was just a really gritty effort and a character win,” Murray said. “We were down to 10 forwards and missing two-thirds of our first line. A lot goes into this week, the travel for the game on Tuesday and then back to back with three games on the road.

“It was nice to win a close, low-scoring game too where we had to grind it out and find a way to get it done.”

Saskatoon scored the game’s first goal not long after an icing call. Brandon’s tired players was unable to clear the zone and Saskatoon maintained possession and pressed until Jordan Martin made a backhand pass across the crease to Laing, who put the puck past a helpless Ruzicka 11 minutes 15 seconds into the game.

The Wheat Kings tied the game four minutes later when a Brandon shot hit a Saskatoon defender and landed on the stick of Gavin, who backhanded the puck into the top of the net behind Saskatoon goalie Ethan McCallum.

On the game’s first power play six minutes into the middle frame, Chase Surkan dipsy doodled behind the net with the puck and found Mistelbacher in the far circle for a one-timer that McCallum had no chance on as Brandon took its first lead.

The Blades tied the game four minutes later when Parr deflected a shot by Brayden Klimpke. Saskatoon had an 11-2 edge in shots in the second period when they tied the game.

That brought the Wheat Kings back to life, and they regained the lead less than two minutes later when Nick Johnson found Gavin in the neutral zone, and the second-year Wheat King cut through a gaggle of Saskatoon defenders and beat McCallum over his glove for a highlight-reel goal.

Brandon killed back-to-back penalties in the next few minutes — although Saskatoon nearly had a three-man breakaway on a line change that went for naught — to preserve the lead through 40 minutes.

The Wheat Kings took their fourth penalty of the night with 5:39 remaining, and the Blades swarmed and had a pair of incredible chances but the puck stayed out.

When defenceman Nigel Boehm mistakenly put the puck out of play with 2:26 left, Saskatoon went to its fifth man advantage of the game, and the hosts pulled McCallum for an extra attacker 30 seconds later. While they largely maintained territorial possession, Brandon’s penalty killers were able to hold them without any Grade A chances and the Wheat Kings hung on for the victory.

“The penalties were a lot in the third period but we did a heckuva job,” Murray said. “We were 12-for-13 this weekend so the bad news is we took a lot of penalties but the good news is we did a heckuva job.”

A big part of that is Brandon’s willingness to block shots, which is clearly becoming a point of pride for the players. Murray said it’s something his team has watched video on and talked about a lot.

“You have to be in shot lanes,” Murray said. “It might hurt but it doesn’t hurt as bad as the puck going into the back of the net. I think that’s our mentality, and you can see guys getting excited on the bench when somebody is willing to lay out for a blocked shot.”

Ruzicka, who took his first WHL penalty during the game, was named first star and did a terrific job of hanging onto the puck and getting whistles.

“Filip was really good start to finish,” Murray said. “It was one of those nights where we were undermanned and tired a little bit and you rely on your goalie to have a big night, and Filip sure did that.”

“It’s fun,” Murray added. “I think he’s getting more and more comfortable every game. He’s 9-3 now, which is a pretty good thing for a 17-year-old coming into this league from another country.”

The Brandonite McCallum stopped 23 shots for the Blades.

Brandon went 1-for-1 on the power play, with Saskatoon unsuccessful in five chances.

ICINGS: Brandon also skated without injured D Merrek Arpin, D Adam Hlinsky, F Ryan Boyce and F Easton Odut … The Wheat Kings dressed 10 forwards and seven defenceman as a result … Mistelbacher and Daniil Skvortsov led the Wheat Kings with four shots each on net … The game took two hours, 24 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Saskatoon won 33-30 … The Wheat Kings next see action when Prince Albert visits Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Friday at 7 p.m.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

 

SATURDAY
Wheat Kings 3, Blades 2
First Period
1. Saskatoon, Laing 13 (Martin) 11:15.
2. Brandon, Gavin 8 (Boehm, Burzynski) 14:56.
Penalties — None.
Second Period
3. Brandon, Mistelbacher 17 (Surkan, Gavin) 7:22 (pp).
4. Saskatoon, Parr 2 (Klimpke, Calvert) 11:11.
5. Brandon, Gavin 9 (Johnson, Baumuller) 13:06.
Penalties — Olsen Sas (goaltender interference) 6:03, Lavoie Bdn (tripping) 14:44, Klippenstein Bdn (slashing) 17:18,
Third Period
No Scoring.
Penalties — Ruzicka Bdn (slashing) 9:27, Baumuller Bdn (cross checking) 14:21, Boehm Bdn (delay of game) 17:34.
Shots on goal by
Brandon     11     9     6     —     26
Saskatoon     8     14     14     —     36
Goal — Brandon: Ruzicka (W, 9-3-0-0). Saskatoon: McCallum (L, 4-4-0-0).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 1-1; Saskatoon: 0-5.
Referees — Josh Grimm, Troy Murray.
Linesmen — Andrew Sawatsky, Jordan Frey.
Attendance — 4,467 in Saskatoon.