Brandon snags berth in WHL post-season

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This article was published 01/04/2022 (1441 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings are returning to the Western Hockey League playoffs after beating the Prince Albert Raiders 4-2 at Art Hauser Centre on Friday.

Brandon (31-25-3-2) received its goals from Nolan Ritchie, Brett Hyland, Nate Danielson and Chad Nychuk, with Sloan Stanick scoring twice for Prince Albert (25-33-4-1) in front of a crowd of 2,841.

Brandon, which became the 11th team to clinch one of the league’s 16 playoff spots, trails the fifth-place Saskatoon Blades by seven points in the Eastern Conference race. The two teams face off Saturday at 8 p.m.

Brandon head coach Don MacGillivray said it was nice to earn a playoff spot.

“When you start the year, that’s the first objective,” MacGillivray said. “We’ve accomplished that goal and we still have a chance to move up the standings. We’re going to have to play well but we’ve come into this weekend finding a way to win.

“We easily could have won the other night and tonight we found a way … Now you don’t have that pressure of every game is a must-win game.”

Brandon was last in the playoffs in 2018. They missed in 2019 and no post-season was held in 2020 and 2021.

Ritchie opened the scoring for Brandon with his 30th goal of the season on an ugly one seven minutes 16 seconds into the opening frame.

He fanned on his initial shot from the slot but sent a second chance at Prince Albert goalie Tikhon Chaika, who made the save. Unfortunately for the Belarusian netminder, the puck hit the skate of his countryman Vladislav Shilo and bounced into the net. 

Prince Albert responded midway through the second period when Stanick was able to corral a rebound in front of Brandon goalie Ethan Kruger and backhanded it into the corner of the net as Brandon tried to kill the second of back-to-back power plays. It was the 20th goal of the season for the Rapid City product, and it came in a period in which the hosts outshot the visitors 19-4.

Brandon regained the lead 4:17 into third period when Hyland deflected a shot from the point by young defenceman Charlie Elick, who earned his second point in four games since he was called up for the rest of the season.

Prince Albert pulled Chaika with two minutes left and Danielson gave the Wheat Kings a two-goal cushion with a long shot from his own zone to make it 3-1 for the visitors. When Prince Albert gained control of the puck off the faceoff, Chaika went back to the bench and Stanick scored his second of the game off a rebound with 57 seconds left.

Brandon’s overage defenceman Nychuk responded 29 seconds later, however, when his shot from the hashmarks in front of the Brandon net, which came as he was being checked to his knees, travelled down the ice and into the open net.

“It was important for our guys how we won the game tonight,” MacGillivray said. “We were defending a 2-1 lead late in the game and we had guys blocking shots, we had guys getting pucks out and when we didn’t, we had guys digging in to make the right play. We did a much better job in the faceoff circle tonight, in terms of tying up pucks and not losing faceoffs directly back. There were lots of little things that translated to a win.”

Brandon went 0-for-3 on the power play, with Prince Albert scoring once in five chances.

Kruger made 35 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Chaika stopping 15 shots for the Raiders.

“Krugs was awesome,” MacGillivray said. “He played one of his best games of the year tonight. He looked very sharp, very composed, very steady. He made some big saves and made the saves he’s supposed to make.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured forwards Ridly Greig and Marcus Kallionkieli plus healthy scratches Jacob Hoffrogge, Owen Harris, Jesiah Bennett and Zach Turner … Danielson and Vincent Iorio led the Wheat Kings with three shots on net each … The game took two hours, 20 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Prince Albert won 39-33 … Red Deer Rebels forward Ben King was named player of the month for March. The product of Vernon, B.C., led the WHL skaters with 23 points (6G-17A). Meanwhile, Winnipeg Ice netminder Daniel Hauser was named goaltender of the month for March. The 18-year-old from Chestermere, Alta., posted an 11-0-0-0 record in March, to go along with a 1.58 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage and four shutouts.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson

 

 

Wheat Kings 4, Raiders 2

First Period

1. Brandon, Ritchie 30 (Iorio, Ginnell) 7:16.

Penalties — Hyland Bdn (tripping) 11:14.

Second Period

2. Prince Albert, Stanick 20 (Herman, Kosior) 14:43 (pp).

Penalties — Thurston PA (hooking) 9:33, Hyland Bdn (roughing) 11:00, Ward Bdn (boarding) 13:33, Herman PA (tripping) 18:53.

Third Period

3. Brandon, Hyland 12 (Elick) 4:17.

4. Brandon, Danielson (unassisted) 18:12 (en).

5. Prince Albert, Stanick 21 (Kosior, Allan) 19:03.

6. Brandon, Nychuk 19 (unassisted) 19:32 (en).

Penalties — Ward Bdn (boarding) 5:59, Wilson PA (roughing) 9:21, Roberts Bdn (interference) 11:21.

Shots on goal by

Brandon     6     4    9     —     37

Prince Albert     8     19     10     —     19

Goal — Brandon: Kruger (W, 24-15-2-2). Prince Albert: Chaika (L, 19-19-3-1).

Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 0-3; Prince Albert: 1-5.

Referees — Corey Koop, Bob Millette. 

Linesmen — Tanner McGregor, Levi Schutz.

Attendance — 2,841 in Prince Albert.