Five-goal period leads T-Birds to 7-3 win

A terrible second period wasted a two-goal effort by Luke Mistlebacher as the Brandon Wheat Kings fell 7-3 to the Seattle Thunderbirds in Western Hockey League action at accesso ShoWare Center on Tuesday.

Matthew Gard and Sawyer Mayes both scored twice for Seattle (18-21-3-2), with singles coming from Ashton Cumby, Coster Dunn and Ethan Bibeau. Brandon (26-19-1-0), playing in front of a crowd of 3,333, received its other goal from Joby Baumuller.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said giving up five goals in back half of the second period was the story of the game.

“We were up 2-1 over halfway through the game and then the wheels fell off,” Murray said. “We had a lot of chances in the first half of the second to separate ourselves but we didn’t score and then we had a couple of missed assignments on back checks and (Brandon goalie Filip) Ruzicka was out of the net on the one (after running into a teammate) and then we took an undisciplined penalty that ended up being a big part of the game.

“It kind of snowballed on us. It was too bad because I liked our first period.”

The Wheat Kings had exactly the start they wanted, opening the scoring one minute 34 seconds into the game. Defenceman Daniil Skvortsov was the recipient at the blue-line of an errant Seattle pass and sent a hard pass to the side of the net for Mistelbacher, who scored his sixth goal in his last five outings.

Brandon’s power play, which hasn’t been especially sharp on the trip, wasn’t great on its first attempt and on the second one, they got a little cute with the puck in the neutral zone and Seattle forward Gard charged back up the ice shorthanded after intercepting a pass and beat Ruzicka to tie the game.

The Thunderbirds nearly scored again before the penalty ended as the hosts gained all kinds of momentum.

Four minutes into the middle frame, Mistelbacher scored his second of the game when he raced along the boards, cut hard into the middle past defenceman Radim Mrtka and backhanded the puck into the top of the net over Seattle goalie Marek Sklenicka for his 28th goal of the season.

But midway through the second period, Cumby, Mayes and Gard all scored in a three-minute span as the hosts took control for good, going up 4-2 on just 14 shots.

It was reminiscent of Brandon’s last trip to Seattle when they surrendered four goals in 61 seconds in a 6-4 loss on Oct. 17, 2023.

“You just have to be ready for the next shift, and that’s the message after the second period,” Murray said, noting coaches have to choose their words carefully. “It’s not 1987 and you can go in there and blast them. You try to talk them into doing things the right way and maybe getting some chances.”

After Simon Lovsin took his second penalty of the game less than a minute after Gard’s goal, Baumuller found the rebound on a shot by Mistelbacher as the power play finally broke through and the Wheat Kings trailed 4-3 with six minutes left in the middle frame.

Before the period ended, however, Dunn banged in a rebound on a Seattle power play to restore the two-goal lead with 91 seconds remaining, and then with 12.4 seconds left in the period, a shot off the post landed on the stick of Bibeau and he had an empty net behind Ruzicka to make it 6-3.

Brandon pulled the goalie with five minutes remaining in regulation with the teams playing four-on-four and eventually for a Wheat Kings six-on-four, but they weren’t able to cash in despite plenty of pressure.

Seattle put the game away for good with 2:47 left when Mayes found the empty net for his second of the night.

Ruzicka made 26 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Sklenicka stopping 25 shots for the Thunderbirds.

Brandon went 1-for-6 on the power play, with Seattle scoring once in five chances.

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin, D Dylan Ronald, F Easton Odut, F Chase Surkan and F Carter Klippenstein, plus one healthy scratch, callup F Carson Ralph … Seattle’s Mrtka earned four primary assists … The short-handed goal Brandon surrendered was just its third of the season. Five teams have allowed eight or more … Mistelbacher led the Wheat Kings with six shots on net. Baumuller and Brady Turko both had five … The game took two hours, 23 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 28-26 … The Wheat Kings visit the Wenatchee Wild on Wednesday, the Tri-City Americans on Friday and the Spokane Chiefs on Saturday.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

 

LATE TUESDAY
Thunderbirds 7, Wheat Kings 3
First Period
1. Brandon, Mistelbacher 27 (Skvortsov) 1:34.
2. Seattle, Gard 10 (Bibeau) 15:15 (sh).
Penalties — Skvortsov Bdn (slashing) 4:13, Riley Sea (tripping) 9:46, Schmidt Sea (cross checking) 13:15, Lovsin Sea (cross checking) 19:32.
Second Period
3. Brandon, Mistelbacher 28 (Pantelas) 4:11.
4. Seattle, Cumby 3 (Mrtka, Kosick) 10:41.
5. Seattle, Mayes 12 (Mrtka, Schmidt) 12:14.
6. Seattle, Gard 11 (Bibeau) 13:44.
7. Brandon, Baumuller 33 (Mistelbacher, Jacobson) 15:07 (pp).
8. Seattle, Dunn 19 (Mrtka, Schmidt) 18:29 (pp).
9. Seattle, Bibeau (Mrtka, Martorana) 19:47.
Penalties — Boehm Bdn (interference) 5:18, Lovsin Sea (checking to the head) 14:23, Hadland Bdn (slashing) 17:15, Gleasman Bdn (roughing) 20:00, Pantelas (roughing) 20:00, Bibeau (roughing) 20:00, Gard (roughing) 20:00.
Third Period
10. Seattle, Mayes 13 (Dunn, Lovsin) 17:13 (en).
Penalties — Skvortsov Bdn (tripping) 1:38, Martorana Sea (hooking) 10:36, Ellingsen Bdn (high sticking) 14:02, Mrtka Sea (interference) 14:37, Burzynski Sea (roughing) 20:00, Holberton Sea (roughing, 10-minute misconduct) 20:00.
Shots on goal by
Brandon     11     8     9    —     28
Seattle     7     10     13     —     33.
Goal — Brandon: Ruzicka (L, 19-8-0-0). Seattle: Sklenicka (W, 13-10-3-0).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 1-6; Seattle: 1-5.
Referees — Mike Campbell, Kacey Walker.
Linesmen — Eric McLaughlin, Cameron Wetmore.
Attendance — 3,333 in Seattle.