Ruzicka blanks Warriors in 3-0 victory

Filip Ruzicka made 31 saves for his first Western Hockey League shutout as the Brandon Wheat Kings completed a weekend sweep of the Moose Jaw Warriors with a 3-0 victory in Western Hockey League action at Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Sunday afternoon.

Brandon (21-12-1-0) received its goals from Joby Baumuller, Caleb Hadland and Brady Turko in front of a crowd of 2,705.

The six-foot-seven Ruzicka, who had his family in attendance from Trinec, Czechia, said it was an amazing feeling to play well in front of them.

“It was very good,” Ruzicka said. “I don’t have words. It’s the best feeling because my family watched and I had my first shutout. It’s nice.”

“The guys played really good,” he added. “There were a lot of blocks today so I thank the boys. They scored the goals. It was very good.”

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said Ruzicka’s seventh win in a row and 11th in his last 12 starts was exactly what he’s come to expect from the big netminder.

“It was another stellar performance,” Murray said. “I thought our first period was really, really good. I thought we probably deserved better than 0-0 but we didn’t capitalize and their goalie made some saves.

“After we got the first two, I thought we wanted to play a little bit of a track meet with Moose Jaw and we allowed some chances, and no pun intended, Filip stop tall when needed.”

Jordan Gavin had the best opportunity of the scoreless first period when he rang a shot off the crossbar.

There were just five faceoffs in the first 13 minutes 26 seconds and although the teams combined for just eight shots at that point, it was an action-packed affair with lots of missed nets and passes that didn’t quite connect.

“I loved our first period and thought it was one of our better periods in a long time,” Murray said. “I thought we played really fast.”

When the teams were tied 0-0 after 20 minutes, it was the first scoreless opening period the Wheat Kings had played in all season.

When the floodgates briefly opened in the second period, Brandon cashed in twice in 43 seconds. Baumuller deflected a point shot by Nigel Boehm just after Brandon had set up in the zone off the rush — the goal came at the 4:32 mark — and on the next shift, Luke Mistelbacher sent a pass across to Hadland for a one-timer that beat Moose Jaw goalie Kyle Jones cleanly.

The 17-year-old Boehm’s assist was identical to one he earned in Moose Jaw on Saturday, and gives him 10 points on the season.

“It was funny, the shift before he put himself in an awkward position where he closed himself off to shoot at the net and I said to get your toes pointed,” Murray said. “It’s funny how the game works out, he ended up getting a shot through. For Nigel, I think it’s confidence.

“Last year, as a 16-year-old, maybe he’s laying that puck behind the net and now he has the confidence to hang onto it a half a second longer and get pucks through. It’s fun to see those kids evolve.”

Moose Jaw had the best chances for the rest of the period and Ruzicka had to be sharp as the Warriors outshot the hosts 19-12 in the middle frame. Ruzicka’s best save may have come on a breakaway by Landen McFadden with 3:30 left when he got his big pad on the shot.

“After we got the second goal, we got a little loose and casual and maybe overextended some shifts,” Murray said. “To me, we couldn’t play in the pace we did in the first period.”

Moose Jaw began the third period on the power play, but Brandon had the best chance when Hadland went in on a shorthanded breakaway. He was stopped by Jones, but the Brandon captain got some aggression out of his system soon after when he sent Moose Jaw captain Brady Ness flying with a stout check.

Brandon put the game away with 8:34 remaining when Nick Johnson created a turnover in the neutral zone, Chase Surkan found Turko on the far wing and the McCreary product skated in and blasted a shot over the glove of Jones to make it 3-0.

Brandon had a late power play and gave up a two-on-one and a breakaway but were able to post their second shutout of the season.

After a 3-2 win over the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Saturday, Brandon moved to 10-1 in the month of December with the weekend sweep.

“The first game after Christmas is hard every time,” Ruzicka said. “We did it. Yesterday’s game was a little bit harder than today’s game but we did it. We have four points.”

Brandon went 0-for-3 on the power play, with Moose Jaw unsuccessful in two chances. Jones stopped 27 shots for the Warriors.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said his club, which fell to 13-17-3-1, had another solid performance.

“I thought again, like last night, we played a pretty good hockey game,” O’Leary said. “We’re generating all kinds of opportunities. I think the one area we struggled was breaking the puck out early on in the game but I thought we made some adjustments there and did a much better job of that.

“The last three games for us, we’re competitive and we’re playing the right way. It’s not alway pretty but we’re generating enough opportunities to score, we’re just having a tough time putting it in the back of the net.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin and F Easton Odut, plus healthy scratches F Ryan Boyce and D Daniil Skvortsov … When the Warriors put 19 shots on net in the middle frame, it was the second night in a row. They had just one goal to show for the 38 attempts … Baumuller, who scored his fifth game-winning goal of the season, led the Wheat Kings with six shots on net … The game took a speedy two hours, 11 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 23-21 … The Wheat Kings visit the Swift Current Broncos on Tuesday at 7 p.m., host the Saskatoon Blades in a matinee on Thursday at 2 p.m., and visit Saskatoon on Saturday at 7 o’clock … The Edmonton Oil Kings made a second move on Saturday, picking up overage defenceman Austin Zemlak of Fort McMurray, Alta., from the Tri-City Americans for a second-round pick in 2026 that originally belonged to Saskatoon and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2029. Zemlak had been playing with Arizona State University.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com