Broncos ride quick start to 7-2 victory

If it could go wrong, it did in the first period for the Brandon Wheat Kings on Sunday afternoon.

The hosts were routed 7-2 by the Swift Current Broncos in the first battle of the East Division’s top teams in Western Hockey League action at Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Sunday after being outscored 6-1 and outshot 15-6 in the opening 20 minutes.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray didn’t pull any punches when asked about the first period.

“We were embarrassed,” Murray said. “We got outhustled and lazy and soft. We had a number of guys who were unplayable. When that happens against a hungry team that outworks you, the game is over in the first 15 minutes like it was tonight.”

Swift Current (11-6-0-0) received its goals from Zach Pantelakis, Brock Burch, Carter Moen, Trae Wilke, Yuri Vlasenko, Ty Meunier and Hyde Davidson, with Chase Surkan and Kris Muissu replying for Brandon (11-6-0-0) in front of a season-low crowd of 1,790.

Overage defenceman Cole Slobodian of Brandon said he and his teammates simply have to be better.

“It can’t happen,” Slobodian said. “Obviously it’s something we’ve kind of struggled with to start the year, bad things snowballing on us. We have to figure out how to bite the bullet and flip momentum.”

The gaffe-prone Wheat Kings couldn’t have scripted a worse start to the game.

Swift Current capitalized one minute nine seconds into the game when Slobodian didn’t get as much on a pass as he wanted and Pantelakis intercepted the puck, calmly skated in a couple of steps and fired the first shot of the game past Brandon goalie Filip Ruzicka.

“We talk a lot about being prepared for games and we just weren’t for this one, I guess,” Slobodian said. “It starts with me, it starts with the older guys, we have to set the better example and just go from there.”

The visitors made it 2-0 just 50 seconds later when a loose puck squirted out front and Ruzicka couldn’t put his glove on it through Ethan Young’s skates before Burch knocked it in.

Brandon showed some signs of life 68 seconds after that when Brady Turko made a perfect pass across to Surkan on a two-on-two and the second-year forward scored his eighth goal of the season.

But the self-inflicted wounds were just beginning.

Just 45 seconds later, the Wheat Kings swarmed on the puck at the blue-line but failed to gain possession, and the defensive breakdown left two Broncos in front of the net alone. Moen promptly put a shot over Ruzicka’s shoulder. The four goals came in the first 3:52 of the game, with Swift Current scoring three goals on four shots.

Brandon continued to struggle in its own end and Ruzicka had to make three more saves in the next three minutes as the puck seldom left the Wheat Kings end.

Off the rush, the Broncos made it 4-1 midway through the period when Wilke picked a top corner, and at the 13:37 mark with the teams playing four-on-four, Vlasenko capitalized on another turnover. Before the period ended, Meunier whirled and fired a low shot that Ruzicka got a piece of but the puck went in, and 15:50 into the first period, it was 6-1.

“If you look at all the goals in the first period, there were major breakdowns on each of them,” Murray said. “We’ve had some of those (games) this year but we also had our goalie bail us out, and tonight, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Maybe it’s an opportunity to look at it and come to the realization that we were served a slice of humble pie tonight.

“The way we played in the first period was unacceptable.”

Brandon didn’t have a dominant shift in the offensive zone until three minutes into the second period, and they also began to level some heavy checks as they ramped up the physicality.

The scoreless second period was much closer, with the Broncos holding a narrow 11-10 edge. The best chance came when Meunier was denied on a breakaway 13 minutes in.

The third period started in more promising fashion for the Wheat Kings, who went to a power play 23 seconds into the final frame.

Just after the penalty ended, Swift Current goalie Cal Conway came out to play the puck and Muissu beat him to it for his team-leading 11th goal.

Conway quickly made up for the miscue, stopping snake-bit Brandon forward Brady Turko on a breakaway two minutes later.

Turko did put the puck in six seconds into Brandon’s fourth power play at the 14:42 mark but it was immediately waved off because Conway had been knocked on his back.

The ensuing melee after the play launched Brandon into two-man advantage for 1:54 and they pulled the goalie for a 6-on-3. The Wheat Kings mounted incredible pressure but couldn’t get any closer.

Fittingly, Swift Current closed out the scoring when Davidson rang a shot in off the crossbar with 1:52 remaining. With all the power-play time, Brandon actually outshot their visitors 21-5 in the third period.

“We know when we play like that, we’re obviously a top team in the league,” Slobodian said. “I guess it’s confidence and knowing that when we play our game, it’s right there for us. We just need to find out how to do it more consistently.”

Murray, however, wasn’t impressed.

“Usually guys will try to push a little bit but obviously it was too little, too late,” Murray said. “I think we look at some of the bigger issues, where the breakdowns were and really focus on that. The way we played through the last 40 wasn’t perfect by any means but that’s the expectation every night.

“We shouldn’t have to pat each other on the back when we win a shift. The expectation is having a high-calibre team here and we certainly weren’t that in the first period.”

Ruzicka made 24 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Conway stopping 35 shots for the Broncos. Brandon went 0-for-5 on the power play, with Swift Current unsuccessful in three chances.

Swift Current head coach Travis Crickard said his club had an outstanding start, but he wasn’t quite as fond of the final 20 minutes.

“I thought we had a really good start to the game,” Crickard said. “Even the second period, I thought we played well despite not scoring and then I didn’t love our third period. I liked how we killed the penalties, but five-on-five in the third period, I thought we let off the gas a little bit.

“That’s typical in general, you get up by a lot and you start not playing well. Conversely, for them, it was a slow start and then they started playing better. I would just like to see us the same standard all game long.

“I’m also curious too, they had some guys out of the lineup and maybe there is an injury bug or sickness bug going through the team. I think the next time we play them, they’ll be a lot better too.”

The Wheat Kings, who went 5-1-0-0 on their West Coast swing, have embarked on a win-lose pattern during the last six games.

“That’s not good enough,” Murray said. “It gets you home in an awful hurry at the end of the season. Win one, lose one doesn’t get you any ground in the standings. You have to come ready to play every night in this league or you’ll get embarrassed, and that’s what happened tonight.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Josh McGregor, D Ilari Kapanen, G Ryley Budd, F Aiden Foster and F Gunnar Gleasman plus healthy scratches D Cruz Jim (at U17 World Challenge) and F Ryan Boyce … Prospect D Marko Malbasa of Winnipeg played his second game with Brandon after being called up on Thursday … The Wheat Kings also called up Micky Gross from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Virden Oil Capitals to serve as the backup after Budd suffered a lower-body injury on Friday in the morning skate when his skate blade broke … Baumuller, who wasn’t suspended by the league after taking a major in Brandon’s 3-2 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday, led the Wheat Kings with seven shots on net … The game took two hours, 32 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 34-30 … In their next action, the Wheat Kings visit the Regina Pats next Friday at 8 p.m. (CDT) and host the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday at 6 o’clock.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com