Wheat Kings gut out OT win in Calgary

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This article was published 16/01/2022 (1526 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nolan Ritchie scored his second goal of the game late in overtime and rookie goalie Carson Bjarnason made 43 saves as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Calgary Hitmen 3-2 in Western Hockey League action at Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday.

Brandon (18-14-2-2) received its other goal from Mason Ward, with Cael Zimmerman and Zac Funk replying for Calgary (14-12-4-2)in front of a crowd of 3,589.

Brandon head coach Don MacGillivray was relieved his team was able to respond despite playing its third game in less than 48 hours.

“It was a gritty effort by a lot of guys,” MacGillivray said. “We got good goaltending again today from Barney, but we had a lot of good performances. Brett Hyland got hit early in the game and was feeling the effects of that and responded and I thought he played a good game.

“I thought we had a lot of good efforts from a lot of guys who have played a lot of minutes over the last three days.”

Brandon finished the four-game trip to Alberta with five points after a 5-3 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday, a 4-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels on Friday and a 4-3 overtime loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Wednesday.

“This was an important game and it was important to get two points,” MacGillivray said. “It gives us a real satisfying road trip, and more importantly, the way he played on the road trip was really good.”

The Wheat Kings were without overage forward Marcus Kallionkieli (COVID protocol), defenceman Vincent Iorio (upper body, day to day after getting hit by a puck) and starting goalie Ethan Kruger, who is battling a non-COVID illness and backed Bjarnason up.

The rookie netminder from Carberry knew before the trip that he was going to play in Red Deer on Friday and might get a second start. As it turned out, he got three in a row on the weekend.

“Credit to him,” MacGillivray said. “He was ready to play and did his job, and that’s what he’s supposed to do. It’s big-time confidence for him.”

Bjarnason also saw extra time on a previous trip to Alberta when Kruger was injured.

On Sunday, Brandon took the lead with a wrist shot by Ward from the high slot on a power play midway through the first period. The goal came on the first of four consecutive power plays the Wheat Kings received in a 13-minute span, with Brandon unable to create much on the next three.

The Hitmen began to take control of the game with some dominant shifts midway through the second period, with Zimmerman finally capitalizing with a shot into the top corner form the slot as Bjarnason tried to find the puck through a maze of players.

Calgary took the lead late in the middle frame just after their first power play when Funk skated out of the corner and sent a shot by Bjarnason’s glove.

Brandon reacted quickly on the ensuing shift, using a strong forecheck to get possession of the puck, with Tyson Zimmer setting up Ritchie with a long pass to square the game just 27 seconds after Calgary scored.

The Hitmen outshot Brandon 33-17 in the final 40 minutes. 

The teams traded glorious chances in the final few minutes of regulation, with Calgary goalie Ethan Buenaventura, who turned aside 28 shots, stopping Ridly Greig on a long breakaway and Bjarnason coming up with a save on a two-on-one soon after.

Both clubs also had chances to win in overtime as the puck went back and forth, but Brandon won the game with an odd goal. 

After establishing themselves in the Calgary zone, Ritchie skated towards the net and threw the puck out front, where it bounced off the skate of Calgary forward Blake Stevenson and into the net.

Overage defenceman Chad Nychuk drew an assist on the play to go with his three overtime winners this season, which means he has factored into all four of Brandon’s wins in extra time.

Defenceman Charlie Elick, who was Brandon’s top pick in the recent WHL draft, made his league debut in his hometown, one day before his 16th birthday.

“It was great to see Charlie play today,” MacGillivray said. “He looks like he’s the real deal for sure. I’m real happy with his performance. I thought he looked calm, poised, he skates real well and is big, strong, so I’m super happy with his effort.”

ICINGS: Brandon also skated without F Jake Chiasson (upper-body, indefinite) and F Jesiah Bennett (healthy scratch) …  Ritchie led the Wheat Kings with nine shots on net … The game took two hours, 26 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Calgary dominated 48-27 … Brandon went 1-for-4 on the power play, with Calgary unsuccessful in one chance.

EDMONTON 5 BRANDON 3

Dylan Guenther scored twice and added an assist in the third period as the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the visiting Wheat Kings 5-3 at Rogers Place on Saturday afternoon.

Logan Dowhaniuk, Carter Souch and Jake Neighbours also scored for Edmonton (25-9-2-1), with Iorio, Landon Roberts and Greig replying for Brandon (17-14-2-2) in front of a crowd of 3,623.

MacGillivray said it was a good road game but mistakes proved costly.

“I think we played hard,” MacGillivray said. “Our guys had a couple of breakdowns and they made us pay on those breakdowns … For the most part, we did some really, really good things. I thought we played extremely well in the second period, we got ourselves out of that period 2-2 with a chance to steal two points on the road against a good hockey club.”

Bjarnason made 38 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Cossa stopping 27 shots for the Oil Kings.

Brandon went 1-for-3 on the power play, with Edmonton failing to capitalize on five chances.

BRANDON 4 RED DEER 1

Rylen Roersma scored twice and Greig and Nate Danielson each had four points as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Red Deer Rebels at Peavey Mart Centrium on Friday.

Brandon received its other goals from Greig and Chad Nychuk, with Ben King replying for Red Deer (22-10-2-1) in front of a crowd of 2,649.

MacGillivray liked his team’s effort on Friday, especially after a disappointing 4-3 overtime loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Wednesday.

“I think it’s one of our best games we’ve played all year,” MacGillivray said. “It was a solid 60 minutes, and we had contributions up and down the lineup. Giving Barney a start on the road was good and he played very well. 

“There were a lot of really positive things in the game tonight — and a good response to how we played the other night — against a very good club. Red Deer is a good solid club. They’re big and they’re heavy and they play hard and they’re well coached. You have to earn your points here and we did.”

Brandon went 1-for-3 on the power play, with Red Deer scoring once in four chances.

Former Wheat King Connor Ungar stopped 27 shots for the Rebels, with Bjarnason making 25 saves for the Wheat Kings, including some key ones early in the game.

 

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