Oil Kings rout Wheat Kings
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/10/2021 (1553 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It was a night to forget for the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday.
The Edmonton Oil Kings raced out to a 5-0 first period lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 9-2 triumph at Rogers Place and snapped the Wheat Kings three-game win streak.
“We weren’t ready to play,” Wheat Kings head coach Don MacGillivray said. “It’s tough to go down the lineup and try to find someone that can give you a spark.
“I think top to bottom we weren’t ready to go. You had Edmonton over there who was ready to go and they took it to us. That’s what happened tonight.”
It was a dominating performance from the 5-2-0-1 Oil Kings, who potted a pair of shorthanded markers in the opening 15 minutes of play and converted two of four power play opportunities in their biggest offensive output of the young season.
“When things go good, we are always talking about how good you are and what you did well, but when things go bad like they did for us tonight, it can be easy to point fingers,” MacGillivray said.
“It’s important for us to stick together, look at the video and understand how we need to play in order to be successful. They know that … but it’s a tough lesson and these games are tough ones to be involved in. However, we can’t win if we’re playing like we are right now.”
Jalen Luypen got things started for the Oil Kings early in the opening frame with a highlight-reel shorthanded goal as he undressed Wheat Kings forward Nolan Ritchie and made a nifty move in tight on netminder Carson Bjarnason.
Luypen banged home a rebound a couple of minutes later to double the Oil Kings lead.
The hosts scored three times in a two-minute stretch just past the midway portion of the first period.
Carter Souch made it 3-0 on the power play at the 12:57 mark and Jakub Demek slide a shot into an open cage 39 seconds later.
Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther completed the scoring by sniping a shorthanded shot by Bjarnason after swiping the puck from Wheat Kings blue-liner Vincent Iorio.
Brandon got on the board early in the middle frame as Rylen Roersma converted a rebound from an Iorio point shot to cut the Oil Kings lead to 5-1.
The hosts dominated the rest of the period, however, as Jaxsen Wiebe and Jacob Boucher made it 7-1 in the middle portion of the second.
Souch and Logan Dowhaniuk would add to Edmonton’s lead before the buzzer sounded, which led to the end of the night for Bjarnason, who made 23 saves in 40 minutes of work.
“We were hoping to get to the end of the period with how the score was as we didn’t want to pull Carson during the second,” MacGillivray said.
“It was no fault of Carson’s though as he has been terrific for us. It’s a tough lesson but he’s a good goalie and he’ll respond well to it.”
Nicholas Jones, who was the Wheat Kings fifth round pick in the 2019 Bantam Draft, made his WHL debut during the third period.
The 17-year-old from Calgary stopped all five shots he faced in the final 20 minutes, including a highlight-reel save on Souch where he stretched across the crease and prevented the Oil Kings forward fom getting a hat-trick with his glove.
The 4-4-0-0 Wheat Kings rounded out the scoring as Tyson Zimmer scored his first goal of the season on the power play.
Luypen led the way for Edmonton with two goals and two assists, while Souch, Guenther, Dowhaniuk and Wiebe all had three-point nights.
Sebastian Cossa turned aside 25 shots for the hosts.
An already short-staffed Wheat Kings lineup lost another body during Friday’s game as forward Nate Danielson was hit in the left side of the face by a puck that was shot by teammate Ridly Greig.
Danielson did not return to the contest and is not expected to suit up again this weekend according to MacGillivray.
Brandon continues their three-game Alberta road swing Saturday with a visit to Red Deer for an 8 p.m. meeting with the Rebels.
After taking on the Calgary Hitmen Sunday at 5 p.m., the Wheat Kings have a home-and-home series with the Prince Albert Raiders next weekend.
ICINGS: Forwards Riley Ginnell, Marcus Kallionkieli, Jake Chiasson and Zakhar Polshokov did not dress for the Wheat Kings, in addition to defenceman Owen Harris and goaltender Ethan Kruger … Poloshkov joined the team after landing in Calgary earlier in the day. The Belarusian forward could make his debut this weekend … Jake Neighbours, who led the Oil Kings in scoring during the 2020-21 campaign, remains with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues … Friday’s visit to Edmonton was the first to Alberta for the Wheat Kings since Feb. 29, 2020, when they came away with a 4-3 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
» lpunkari@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @lpunkari