Reinhardt the OT hero for Wheat Kings

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This article was published 17/02/2019 (2411 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cole Reinhardt scored in the final minute of overtime as the Brandon Wheat Kings overcame a pair of deficits to beat the Swift Current Broncos 3-2 in Western Hockey League action at Westoba Place on Monday afternoon.

The Wheat Kings (27-22-3-4) sit two points behind the Red Deer Rebels (29-21-4-1) in the Eastern Conference wildcard race. Brandon is four points back of the Calgary Hitmen (30-21-4-1), who visit on Wednesday. Both of the Alberta teams were idle on Monday.

Brandon received its other goals from Jonny Hooker and Luka Burzan, with Ian Briscoe of Winnipeg and Owen Blocker of Oakbank replying for Swift Current in front of a crowd of 3,904.

Wheat Kings head coach David Anning said his team improved as the night went on.

“It was a sloppy hockey game for 40 minutes,” Anning said. “There wasn’t a lot of flow because I thought the execution was poor. There were a lot of missed passes and missed nets. We didn’t generate a lot of quality chances but I thought in the third period it was better. We started to move the puck around a little bit and drew a penalty and capitalized on the power-play opportunity, which was critical. Down a goal going into the third, we found a way to get two points.”

It’s just the second time all season that Brandon won when trailing after two periods.

Briscoe put his team on the scoreboard first when he tipped a shot by the former Wheat King Garrett Sambrook nine minutes and 55 seconds into the opening frame.

In what was largely a sleepy game to that point, Hooker knocked in a rebound past Swift Current goalie Isaac Poulter to put Brandon on the board 15:34 into the middle frame.

“I saw that Stelio (Mattheos) was going to the net and Burzan was going to the net and I knew there was going to be a rebound,” said Hooker, whose last goal came on Oct. 12. “The puck just happened to bounce to my stick and I got it in.

“I felt great. It was a big relief. Hopefully it carries over.”

Just 85 seconds later, Blocker sent a shot from the slot off the crossbar to restore the Swift Current lead.

Burzan pulled his team even again during his team’s second power play in the eighth minute of the third period. He took a pass beside the net, and made a power move across the crease, tucking the puck past Poulter to make it 2-2.

In overtime, the Swift Current netminder made a terrific glove save off Reinhardt on a 2-on-1 earlier in extra time, but the Alberta product made no mistake with 59 seconds left.

“(Conor Gutenberg) made a nice pass to me down low and I just made a move around the defenceman and tried to get a shot on net and it went in,” Reinhardt said.

Goalie Jiri Patera made 12 saves for the Wheat Kings, while Poulter was sensational in stopping 39 shots for the Broncos.

Brandon went 1-for-3 on the power play, with Swift Current scoreless in two chances.

Swift Current head coach Dean Brockman said his team was unable to rise to another level when it had the momentum.

“We were facing a tired team too,” Brockman said. “I thought when we had opportunities to push the pace we just kind of sat back. That’s a team (the Broncos) that hasn’t won a lot of games and you can tell that. We got out of here with a point, and good for (Brandon), they’re fighting for their playoff lives and they rose to the occasion.”

On Saturday, the Wheat Kings stunned the Prince Albert Raiders for the second night in a row with a 6-3 victory in Brandon.

One night after beating the league leaders 5-4 in Prince Albert, Mattheos scored a hat trick and added a helper in front of a crowd of 4,089 at Westoba Place.

Brandon received its other goals from Reinhardt, Burzan and Ben McCartney. Justin Nachbaur of Cross Lake scored twice and Dante Hannoun added a single for Prince Albert.

Patera made 34 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Boston Bilous and Brett Balas combining to stop 25 shots for the Raiders.

Hooker said his club has improved during its four-game winning streak.

“We’re coming together as a team,” Hooker said. “Our game is starting to gell more iI find. We have a lot more confidence on the ice.”

ICINGS: Brandon’s healthy scratches were F Ty Thorpe and D Chad Nychuk … Swift Current lost defencemen Matthew Stanley and Alex Moar during the game …Reinhardt led his team with seven shots on net … Mattheos was named the league’s player of the week after earning nine points in three games last week.

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