Surkan scores late in 2-1 Wheaties win

Chase Surkan scored with 42.9 seconds remaining to lift the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 2-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors in Western Hockey League action at Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Saturday.

Brandon (14-11-1-0) received its other goal from Brady Turko, with Connor Schmidt replying for Moose Jaw (12-13-2-1) in front of a crowd of 2,776.

On Friday, the visiting Wheat Kings rallied from a deficit late in the third period with five goals in six minutes to beat the Regina Pats 7-4.

“It shows the character,” Surkan said of the two very different victories. “It was a gritty win coming back last night and then playing again tonight, it was a testament to our group that showed the character we have. It was a good win.”

Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray said Saturday’s victory was a really strong night for his entire group.

“I thought it was one of our best 60-minute games of the year,” Murray said. “From start to finish, we played extremely well. We generated a ton of chances and were pretty sound defensively. When we had any breakdowns, (Brandon goalie) Filip (Ruzicka) stood tall. I was real happy.

“Their goalie (Chase) Wutzke was outstanding tonight. We threw everything at him and it took into the 60th minute to grind out a win.”

Brandon went to the power play eight seconds into the game and established some early momentum as a result.

They beat Wutzke five minutes 22 seconds in when Turko received a pass from Jimmy Egan after he got it from Caleb Hadland, and the McCreary product beat the veteran netminder on a backhand deke.

“It was a good plays by Hads to get it to Jimmy and then he found me in the slot,” Turko said. “I made a move around the defender and around the goalie as well.”

Brandon got the only two shots in the first seven minutes of the second period, but things did eventually heat up.

The Wheat Kings put the puck in the net exactly 17 minutes into the period on a shot by defenceman Cameron Allard but since Carter Klippenstein and Wutzke had collided and the goaltender was down on the ice, it was immediately ruled to be no goal by the referee.

The Wheat Kings had found their way offensively as the period went on and actually outshot the Warriors 16-5 in the middle frame. That spoke as much to Brandon’s better defensive play as it did to its offensive ability.

“Just from the start of the season, I think it’s been a tremendous growth for our team defensively,” Turko said. “Being able to take pride in our defensive zone and still be able to produce offensively is something we’ve done a great job of recently.”

Moose Jaw finally came alive in the third period after mustering just 13 shots through 40 minutes.

Warriors forward Connor Schmidt thought he scored 1:26 into the third period when he broke down the wing and snapped a shot that seemed to handcuff Ruzicka, but the big netminder somehow kept it out as Schmidt put his arms in the air.

The Warriors forward actually had something to celebrate 41 seconds later when Brandon couldn’t clear the zone and Schmidt whirled and fired at the faceoff dot and beat Ruzicka.

That energized the visitors, who poured on the pressure and were able to establish sustained territorial possession for the first time.

Schmidt nearly had his second of the game four minutes later but his shot through traffic glanced off the crossbar and out of play.

The game may have turned on an obscure rule in the WHL rulebook.

With 3:20 left, Brandon’s Caleb Hadland was flagged for a double minor for high sticking but a video review showed the call on the ice was wrong because defenceman Brady Ness had actually been cut by another Moose Jaw stick. The referees overturned the call and the game resumed five-on-five.

“I think the fact that it’s a double minor, they can review it,” Murray said. “If it was just a two-minute penalty they couldn’t, so we probably lucked out with the fact that he (Ness) was leaking a little bit.”

Brandon nearly took the lead shortly after when Luke Mistelbacher had an open net but Moose Jaw defenceman Colt Carter made a sensational diving play to knock the puck away at the last instant to deny the goal.

The winner came on a strong defensive play in the Brandon end. After a shot block by Grayson Burzynski, the puck bounced to Surkan and the rookie sniper chugged up the ice on a two-on-one with defenceman Dylan Ronald.

Using Ronald as a decoy, Surkan elected to shoot, beating Wutzke over his glove with 42.9 seconds remaining.

“It was a big block by Burz on the four-on-three (Moose Jaw rush) and it was a fortunate bounce and I got it on a two-on-one with Ron,” Surkan said. “He came at me and backed off a bit so I thought I would shoot it and it went in.”

“It was a sigh of relief,” Surkan added about the moment the puck hit the mesh. “I had a couple of chances earlier in the game and I was pretty frustrated with myself not getting to bury those, so seeing that one go in was awesome.”

His teammates were suitably impressed by Surkan, who now has 16 goals on the season, including three game winners.

“He’s having a tremendous year,” Turko said. “That’s one thing you can’t teach, goal scoring, and he definitely has it.”

Ruzicka made 24 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Wutzke stopping 41 shots for the Warriors.

Brandon went 0-for-2 on the power play, with Moose Jaw unsuccessful in one chance.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said his group, which fell 4-3 in overtime to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday in Moose Jaw, simply didn’t work hard enough to win.

“I thought it was a sleepy couple of periods,” O’Leary said. “I thought both teams kind of dipped their toe into the game. They certainly had way more chances than us. After the first two periods, I thought we found our legs and found our ability to string a couple of passes together by the third period.

“I still just want to see a little more compete on our part, especially pucks along the boards. I thought that’s where Brandon won the game tonight. They came up with a lot of those 50-50 pucks along the boards and that allowed them to have the puck a lot more than we did tonight.”

It was a milestone victory for Murray, who earned his 100th WHL win, a milestone he won’t even aware of until Wheat Kings broadcaster Rob Mahon told him. A former Wheat Kings star forward in the early 1990s, Murray was hired as general manager but took over behind the bench on Nov. 28, 2022.

“This organization means so much to me,” Murray said. “I’m thankful to be back. I owe so much to the Wheat Kings organization as a player and now to be able to come back here and just be a part of it again is a complete honour.

“I’m just thankful every day just to be surrounded by good people, the coaching staff, the front office, ownership and the players. It’s hard to call it a job when you love what you do.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin, D Adam Hlinsky, F Ryan Boyce, F Easton Odut and F Jaxon Jacobson … Moose Jaw was without injured star F and team captain Lynden Lakovic, plus F Luke Moroz and D Nolan Paquette … When Brandon led on the scoreboard and shot clock after 20 minutes, it was the first time since Nov. 5 and just the fifth time this season … Surkan and Carter Klippenstein led the Wheat Kings with six shots each on net … The game took a speedy two hours, 14 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 36-18. … The Wheat Kings next see action when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday, and the annual teddy-bear toss is on Friday when the Kelowna Rockets visit.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

SATURDAY
Wheat Kings 2, Warriors 1
First Period
1. Brandon, Turko 10 (Egan, Hadland) 5:22.
Penalties — Degagne MJ (slashing) 0:08, Hadland Bdn (boarding) 12:29.
Second Period
No Scoring.
Penalties — Klippenstein Bdn (goaltender interference) 17:00, Hirst MJ (roughing) 17:00.
Third Period
2. Moose Jaw, Schmidt 8 (Steranka, Andresen) 2:07.
3. Brandon, Surkan 16 (unassisted) 19:18.
Penalties — Lavoie MJ (goaltender interference) 9:58.
Shots on goal by
Brandon     11     16     16     —     43
Moose Jaw     8     5    12     —     25
Goal — Brandon: Ruzicka (W, 11-4-0-0). Moose Jaw: Wutzke (L, 7-9-1-0).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 0-2; Moose Jaw: 0-1.
Referees — Karlin Krieger, Troy Murray.
Linesmen — Logan Young, Josh Blondeau.
Attendance — 2,776 in Brandon.