Jacobson’s sharp passing dulls Blades

Jaxon Jacobson set up all three goals as the Brandon Wheat Kings pulled five points ahead of the Saskatoon Blades with a hard-fought 3-2 victory in Western Hockey League action at Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Monday afternoon.

Fifth-place Brandon (32-22-1-0) received its goals from Luke Mistelbacher, Prabh Bhathal and Jordan Gavin, with Zach Olsen and David Lewandoski replying for sixth-place Saskatoon (27-23-4-2) in front of a crowd of 3,001.

Brandon has 13 games remaining, while Saskatoon has 12. Both teams are chasing the fourth-place Calgary Hitmen (31-15-6-1) for an extra home date in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

“It’s definitely a battle,” Gavin said. “Us, Saskatoon and Calgary are really battling for the four-five-six (placing) so every game from here on out is huge.”

Wheat Kings goalie Jayden Kraus, who finally crossed over .500 after a rough start and now boasts a record of 12-11-1-0, was happy to see his club win its fourth game in a row.

“In my opinion, there’s no doubt we can finish in the top four in this conference and get home-ice advantage,” Kraus said. “I’m not saying we won one game and the championship, it has to be a night-after-night thing. In the last four we’ve done that. We have to keep on that and keep chipping away every day.”

The injury-riddled Wheat Kings continue to skate without forwards Carter Klippenstein, Caleb Hadland, Joby Baumuller, Chase Surkan and Easton Odut, plus defencemen Merrek Arpin and Dylan Ronald.

As a result, callup forward Carson Park made his home debut after playing his first WHL game in a shootout victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday.

Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray was pleased with his club’s effort as they gifted him a victory on his 51st birthday.

“It was another gritty effort,” Murray said. “I thought we played a pretty solid game considering the circumstances. I thought we were pretty good in the first two periods and hung on a little bit with some penalties in the third but we bent and didn’t break and scored a big goal on the power play to get the game winner.”

The game had some quick momentum swings in the first period.

Saskatoon came out of the gate hard, putting four shots on net in the first five minutes while Brandon struggled to create any kind of offence.

After Ryan Boyce got his team’s first shot six minutes into the game, Brandon took over.

The Wheat Kings opened the scoring 10 minutes three seconds into the game off a faceoff win by Jacobson. On a second effort, he got the puck back to Mistelbacher, who ripped a shot over the shoulder of Saskatoon goalie Evan Gardner for his 33rd goal of the season.

After their strong start, it took the Blades 10 minutes to get their fifth shot as the game began to open up, but with the benefit of a late power play, the shots were soon tied at 10.

Brandon widened the lead 3:31 into the second period when Jacobson’s long shot hit Bhathal near the net and bounced in for the rookie’s first goal at home.

Kraus did his part, making his best save with his pad 14 minutes into the middle frame when he denied a quick shot by Olsen during a three-on-one.

The Blades finally got on the board with 2:37 left in the second period with a power-play goal on a shot from the slot by Olsen.

Brandon restored the two-goal lead 63 seconds into the third period on their first power play, which had carried over from the second. Jacobson found Gavin for a one-timer on the backdoor and he blasted it past Gardner to give Brandon a 3-1 advantage.

“We kind of needed a goal there,” Gavin said. “It was a really nice pass by Jaxon.”

Less than two minutes later, Brandon defenceman Nigel Boehm and Saskatoon overage forward Tyler Parr fought, with Parr emphatically gesturing to his bench after Boehm stumbled to the ice first. The Blades actually scored on the subsequent power play, less than three minutes after Brandon had gone up a pair.

Saskatoon head coach Dan DaSilva said his club got a big spark from Parr.

“I thought we started out OK, then maybe give them credit, through the middle part of the game I didn’t feel we played with the urgency and intensity we need to have success consistently enough,” DaSilva said. “After the Parr hit and fight in the third period, we finally got back to playing with the urgency we need to have success.”

Despite the visitors playing their best hockey, Brandon overage forward Nick Johnson nearly extended the lead after the Wheat Kings played keep-away with the puck during a shift with seven minutes remaining, but his shot rang off the post, and then Blades struck iron of their own on a one-timer by Olsen with three minutes left on a late power play.

Saskatoon pulled Gardner for the extra attacker with 1:34 remaining, and the puck mainly stayed in the Wheat Kings zone, with four face-offs by their net.

While the Blades maintained zone time and created chances, they weren’t able to beat Kraus in a final flurry and the goalie thrust his stick in the air in celebration at the final buzzer.

Kraus made 29 saves for the Wheat Kings, with the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Gardner stopping 28 shots for the Blades.

“I thought he was really good,” Murray said of Kraus. “I thought he’s been really good for a while. It’s a huge win. They have a real good goalie and I’m sure Jayden is motivated going head to head against a guy like that. I thought he was excellent again tonight.”

Brandon went 1-for-2 on the power play, with Saskatoon scoring twice in four chances.

The Wheat Kings have now beaten four East Division rivals in the last week, including a 4-3 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Prince Albert Raiders on Friday.

“Them and P.A., those two of our biggest rivals that we play,” Kraus said of the Blades. “Even with all the fire that comes with the games, to beat both those teams in the span of a few days is pretty big.”

ICINGS: Both the Wheat Kings and Blades were 3-3-0-0 in the first six meetings between the clubs this season. They play one final game in Saskatoon on March 18 … The Blades were 13-3-1-1 in Brandon in the last five years entering Monday’s game … In the first period, Brandon’s Gunnar Gleasman ran into the net from behind and sent it toppling over, but thankfully Gardner was able to duck in time and wasn’t injured … Gio Pantelas, Jacobson and Mistelbacher led the Wheat Kings with four shots each on net … The game took two hours, 22 minutes to play after a brief Louis Riel Day ceremony. It started at 2:36 p.m. … In the faceoff circle, both teams won 29 draws … Brandon’s six-game home stand continues when the expansion Penticton Vees make their first visit to Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Friday at 7 p.m.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com