Grubb leads Wheaties past Warriors

Rookie forward Colin Grubb scored twice and added an assist to lead the Brandon Wheat Kings to their first win of the Western Hockey League pre-season on Friday, handing the Moose Jaw Warriors a 6-2 loss at Assiniboine Credit Union Place.

Brandon (1-2-0-0) received its other goals from Brett Wilson, Cruz Jim, Ahmad Fayad and Chase Surkan, with William Degagne and Gage Nagel replying for Moose Jaw (0-4-1-0).

The teams meet again tonight at Temple Garden Centre.

Grubb, a 17-year-old left-handed shot from Minot, N.D., now has four points in three pre-season games.

“It feels great,” Grubb said. “I thought our guys played a great game. We’ve gotten better as each game has gone on. I can’t wait to see what this group can do this year.”

Brandon opened with 6-3 and 6-4 pre-season losses to the Regina Pats last weekend, but Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray also said his group has been improving every night. That was the theme again on Friday.

“I think we made some strides,” Murray said. “We’ve been working on all zones and I thought in all three zones we did a much better job.”

Moose Jaw opened the scoring four minutes three seconds into the opening frame after Moose Jaw defenceman Degagne stepped up, intercepted a breakout pass up the middle and fired a shot over Brandon goalie Ryley Budd’s glove.

The Wheat Kings tied the game less just under three minutes later after the game’s opening power play ended. Brandon forward Hudson Landmark created a turnover at the Moose Jaw blue-line and the Wheat Kings attacked three-on-one.

Landmark sent the puck across to Cole Hunter, and he passed back to Wilson in the slot for a quick shot past Moose Jaw goalie Kyle Jones.

The period ended on a rougher note when Moose Jaw forward Kash Andresen caught Landmark with a late hit that had the Brandon forward struggling to get back to the bench. He did not return to the game.

Wheat Kings forward Kade Pierson soon tracked down Andresen and they fought, with Pierson earning an instigation minor and both players getting kicked out.

The Brandon bench added to the trouble when they took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, sending Moose Jaw to a full two-minute five-on-three that straddled the periods.

The Wheat Kings killed the penalty and took their first lead during a delayed penalty call with Budd on the bench. Jim got his stick on a shot by Grubb and redirected into the far side of the net past Jones.

A minute later, it looked like Chase Surkan had extended the lead when he beat a diving Jones to the top corner. The referees convened at the penalty box and it was judged to be no goal because Jaxon Jacobson had nudged Jones in the net moments before, restricting his ability to get across the crease.

The hosts did take a 3-1 lead at the 6:21 mark. Wheat Kings forward Kris Muissu beat a Moose Jaw defender to the puck on the wall and sent a pass out front to Grubb, who promptly wired a wicked shot into the top corner over Jones’ blocker.

Grubb scored an even nicer goal seven minutes later when he cut wide around Moose Jaw defenceman Connor Schmidt, went hard to the net and slid the puck between Jones and the far post.

“He’s a heckuva player,” Murray said. “He’s a 200-footer: He plays a full sheet of ice. He has some ability. He’s a bit of a power forward who can make some plays. He had two really nice goals tonight, especially the one where he drove the net far side.”

Just over a minute later, Nagel knocked in a rebound after a Brandon turnover in the slot to make it 4-2.

Brandon wasn’t playing well in the third period — Exhibit A was the multiple opportunities they allowed on their power play, including two breakaways — but they restored the two-goal lead anyway when Surkan sent a pass into the slot to the rookie Fayad, who went to his backhand and scored to make it 5-2.

That meant Fayad and Jim, roommates when they played prep hockey together with NAX, both had scored for the first time.

“It’s so much about confidence at that time of year,” Murray said. “Guys are little green and trying to feel their way in so it’s good to see both Ahmad and Cruz get on the board. I thought they had their best games tonight, and hopefully that’s a confidence boost going into (next) weekend.”

The Wheat Kings finished the scoring with 2:11 left when Cameron Allard sent Surkan in all alone and the second-year forward beat Jones on the deke between his pad and the post along the ice.

Budd made 33 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Jones stopping 25 shots for the Warriors. Brandon went 0-for-4 on the power play, with Moose Jaw unsuccessful in three chances.

The teams once again played an overtime period as part of the WHL pilot project that restricts players from circling back into their own end after they cross the opponent’s blue-line with the puck.

Brandon had a power-play opportunity after Nagel was flagged for running into Budd, but Jones kept it even with a tremendous save on a redirect by Hunter in what proved to be a scoreless five minutes.

WHL general managers will decide after the pre-season whether the league will keep the new rule.

Regardless, the Wheat Kings were a happy group after their first victory.

“A week of practice always helps and we’ll have another before the home opener,” Grubb said. “I feel like our legs are getting under us and for us new guys, the systems are starting to click.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured forwards Gunnar Gleasman, Prabh Bhathal, Carson Ralph and Jimmy Egan plus healthy scratches D Easten Turko and Nigel Boehm … Filip Ruzicka, Brady Turko and F Joby Baumuller are away at National Hockey League camps … A moment of silence was held before the game to mark the 9/11 attack … Surkan and Grub led the Wheat Kings with four shots each on net … The game took two hours, 12 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 41-33 … The regular season opens next Friday for Brandon when the Saskatoon Blades visit.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com