Wheat Kings rally to beat Oil Kings

The Brandon Wheat Kings tied the game twice and scored a late goal to earn a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings in Western Hockey League action at Rogers Place on Wednesday.

Fifth-place Brandon (33-20-4-3, 73 points, eight games left) received its goals from Quinn Mantei, Jordan Gavin and Caleb Hadland, with Marshall Finnie and Kayden Stroeder replying for sixth-place Edmonton (33-24-3-3, 70 points, seven games remaining) in front of a crowd of 5,254.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the seventh-place Saskatoon Blades (31-20-3-4, 69 points, 10 games remaining) built a 3-0 lead over the eighth-place Swift Current Broncos (31-25-1-1, 64 points, 10 games remaining) but lost 5-3.

In the battle for the East Division crown and the second spot in the conference playoffs, the Prince Albert Raiders (34-20-5-1, 74 points, eight games remaining) are one point ahead of Brandon.

If Brandon gains another point or the ninth-place Red Deer Rebels (24-28-5-2, 55 points, nine games remaining) lose a point, the Wheat Kings officially clinch a spot in the post-season.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said Wednesday’s game wasn’t exactly as he drew it up, but the result was just fine.

“I thought we were pretty resilient,” Murray said. “It wasn’t the prettiest game but I thought our best period was the third. We found a way to get it done. Last night the power play had an opportunity and didn’t get it done, and tonight it was good to see us get it done.”

One night after allowing four power-play goals in a 4-2 loss to the Red Deer Rebels, Brandon faced an early test when they took a penalty two minutes seven seconds into the game but they surrendered just one shot and actually had a good opportunity shorthanded.

The Oil Kings opened the scoring 15:15 into the first period. Cole Miller won a draw back to defenceman Blake Fiddler and Finnie found the rebound in the slot and fired it past Brandon goalie Carson Bjarnason.

While the Wheat Kings had their moments, the Oil Kings dominated some shifts in the Brandon zone — especially when the Sawchyn brothers Gracyn and Lukas and their linemate Roan Woodward were on the ice — and the visitors were fortunate to be down a goal after 20 minutes.

“We’re going to see some poor ice conditions on this trip and we just have to keep it simple,” Murray said of his team’s miscues. “Especially, you have to understand who you’re out there against. The Sawchyn brothers are some high-end talent and you have to make sure you manage the puck well in those situations. At times we didn’t do it well enough.”

The Wheat Kings tied the game 43 seconds into the second period, one second after their second power play ended. Mantei’s shot from the blue-line hit Fiddler as he jousted with Nolan Flamand in front of Edmonton goalie Ethan Simcoe and bounced into the net.

The play went to a very brief review — and was credited to Flamand — but it stood as a goal.

The Oil Kings celebrated what they thought was a goal 8:36 into the second period when Bjarnason made a pad save on the goal-line. The play went to a long video review because there were no conclusive angles, and it was ultimately judged to be no goal.

At the other end, Nick Johnson and Hadland were both denied on short breakaways by Simcoe in the back half of the period.

Brandon got sloppy with the puck in its own end, and Edmonton’s Jack Toogood sent the puck out front to the rookie Stroeder to restore the Edmonton lead with 5:05 left in the middle frame.

The Wheat Kings were fortunate to keep the score at 2-1 with Bjarnason denying Joe Iginla on the next shift on a two-on-one in which the rookie shot, and foiling a breakaway soon after.

A decision made at the league office certainly helped Brandon three minutes after Edmonton went ahead.

Roger McQueen dodged a suspension for his boarding major and game misconduct he was assessed on Tuesday in Red Deer, and he factored into the tying goal.

The big forward carried the puck into the Edmonton zone and dropped it back to Gavin, who fired a laser into the top corner from the top of the circle for his 20th goal of the season.

With the game tied 2-2, the most dangerous chance of the first half of the third period came eight minutes in when Lukas Sawchyn made an outstanding move on a one-on-one and backhanded a shot off the crossbar.

Brandon went to its third power play with 6:15 remaining when Finnie ran into Bjarnason and took a goaltender interference penalty.

The second power play unit subsequently cashed in when Hadland’s shot got past Simcoe as Johnson provided a screen. Although the goal was credited to Hadland, Johnson led the fly-by at the bench, suggesting he deflected the shot. As a result, a scoring change may be in the offing.

Edmonton pulled Simcoe for an extra attacker with 93 seconds remaining in regulation with a faceoff in the Brandon zone after an icing.

The Wheat Kings got a change with 38 seconds remaining after Bjarnason got a whistle, and his teammates were able to get the puck down the ice and out of danger before the final buzzer sounded.

Bjarnason made 38 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Simcoe stopping 33 shots for the Oil Kings.

“Barney was excellent again,” Murray said. “That was a big game at a big time of the season for us. He was excellent and looked very confident and composed in the net.”

Brandon went 1-for-3 on the power play, with Edmonton unsuccessful in one chance.

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured forwards Jaxon Jacobson, Joby Baumuller, Ben Binder Nord, Easton Odut, plus healthy scratch D Adam Belusko, who is back in Slovakia attending to academic matters … Mantei led the Wheat Kings with six shots on net … The game took two hours, 22 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Edmonton won 31-25. The Wheat Kings finish up the Alberta trip on Friday against the Lethbridge Hurricanes and on Sunday afternoon against the Calgary Hitmen. They play at home again next Wednesday when the Saskatoon Blades visit. The game starts at 6 to allow a special NHL alumni game to take place after it’s done.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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