Mistelbacher scores in OT in 3-2 Wheaties win

Luke Mistelbacher scored his second goal of the game 24 seconds into overtime as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Portland Winterhawks 3-2 in Western Hockey League action at Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday.

Brandon (26-18-1-0) received its other goal from Joby Baumuller, with Nathan Free and Luke Wilfley replying for Portland (22-22-3-0) in front of a crowd of 6,454.

Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray said the start wasn’t perfect, but his team got better and better as the night wore on.

“I thought we were resilient,” Murray said. “The start of the first period wasn’t very good, but that was a lot of character showing up in the second and the third like we did, and then to win in overtime … It’s gruelling on the guys. I can’t imagine how their bodies are feeling. It was a lot of travel and a lot of games in a short period of time here. “I’m real proud of the effort they put forth, especially in the second and the third. We hung on, and we battled and had contributions up and down the lineup.”

Brandon opened the trip with a 5-4 win against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday, rode the bus 1,082 kilometres to get to Everett for a 4-1 loss to the Silvertips on Friday, and then climbed back on the bus for the 325-km trip to Portland after Friday’s game.

They don’t play again until they meet the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday and then have four games in six days to finish up their swing through the U.S. Division.

On Saturday evening, the Winterhawks scored on their second shot when Free whirled and unexpectedly fired a shot past Brandon goalie Filip Ruzicka one minute 30 seconds into the game.

The Wheat Kings went to the penalty kill 45 seconds later, and while they killed it off, the momentum stayed with the hosts as they built an 8-1 lead on the shot clock in the first six minutes and 17-7 overall in the first period.

The Winterhawks increased the lead exactly three minutes into the second period in unusual fashion.

Wilfley was sprung with a stretch pass, but Brandon defender Nigel Boehm caught up to him and laid a hit that sent the Portland forward sliding into the net. Wilfley was awarded a penalty shot — a decision that didn’t earn any admirers on the Brandon bench — and beat Ruzicka between the legs with a nice move.

The tough times continued for Brandon when they got their first power play midway through the middle frame and weren’t even able to set up, let alone get a shot. But they somehow built momentum from it anyway.

The Wheat Kings finally enjoyed their first success on the next shift when defenceman Max Lavoie stripped Portland forward Alex Weiermair of the puck near own his net. Former Winterhawk Nick Johnson grabbed the puck in his first return to Portland since the Nate Danielson deal and found Baumuller skating up the ice. The 18-year-old forward moved into the middle, and from the high slot wired a shot past Portland goalie Ondrej Štěbeták.

Murray said he told assistant coaches Mark Derlago and Del Pedrick after the second period that the blame for the poor results on the man advantage lay with him.

“I shouldn’t have started the first unit,” Murray said. “They had about three-quarters of a shift in them already. I should have probably started the other guys and it led to a very blah power play. Credit to ourselves. We get through that, and Joby scores a big goal.”

Brandon tied the game with 30.3 seconds left in the middle frame when Jaxon Jacobson forced a turnover and fed Mistelbacher in front of the net for the overage forward’s 25th goal of the season.

Both teams had opportunities in the third period, with Mistelbacher narrowly missing on a setup by Jacobson in the final minute of regulation.

In overtime, Jacobson won the draw and after an initial opportunity by Mistelbacher was deflected away by a stick, Jacobson stripped defenceman Max Pšenička of the puck at the side of the net and found Mistelbacher in the slot. The Steinbach product had all kinds of space playing three-on-three — all three Winterhawks had gone low after the puck — and Mistelbacher fired a shot over Štěbeták’s blocker.

Ruzicka made 31 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Štěbeták stopping 24 shots for the Winterhawks.

Brandon went 0-for-1 on the power play, with Portland unsuccessful in three chances.

The Wheat Kings won the game with a pair of call-ups in the lineup. Defenceman Ethan Young, 16, played his third game in a row, while American youngster Levi Ellingsen made his WHL debut wearing No. 56. He took his first WHL shift 4:15 into the game, went 2-for-8 at the faceoff dot overall and was physical. Both youngsters impressed their coach.

“We had Young out until the end of the game and he was going to go out in overtime,” Murray said. “He has so much poise with the puck. I’ve been real impressed with him. In three games, he’s played against hard competition and last night I thought he was just fine. Tonight, he was more than fine.

“And Levi, being a 15-year-old, their line (with Gunnar Gleasman and Ryan Boyce) really gave us some much-needed energy in the first period and he threw a couple of big hits and he was all around it. I was real impressed with those two young men.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin, D Dylan Ronald, F Carter Klippenstein, F Easton Odut and F Chase Surkan … D Grayson Burzynski served the last game of his suspension and will return against the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday … Callup F Carson Ralph was a healthy scratch … Portland celebrated billet appreciation night, so the game didn’t start until 6:08 p.m. … The last time the two teams met in Portland, it was an 11-1 Brandon loss on Oct. 18, 2023 … The Wheat Kings last beat the Winterhawks on Jan. 6, 2023 in Brandon when they eked out a 3-2 victory … Mistelbacher and Baumuller led the Wheat Kings with four shots each on net … The game took two hours, 31 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Portland won 37-27.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com