The Brandon Wheat Kings dropped a 2-1 decision to the Saskatoon Blades on a blustery Friday night at Westoba Place.
The lone goal for the Wheat Kings came off the stick of Cole Reinhardt in the first period. The Wheat Kings were outshot 18-9 in the opening frame, but quickly turned the tides and outshot the Blades 28-15 in the final 40 minutes.
"I thought we did a lot of good things tonight," said Assistant Coach Don MacGillivray. "I don’t think we played well in the first period but we got our game going in the second and third. We played well enough to win, but just didn’t get that bounce tonight."
The Wheat Kings failed to convert on six powerplay chances tonight and are now 0/10 vs the Blades in two games this season.
"On the powerplay we were forcing it a bit and making bad reads, turning pucks over and not generating enough," added MacGillivray. "When the powerplay is not clicking early, guys start squeezing their sticks and get out of a rhythm."
The Wheat Kings will take their 3-4-0-0 record out on the road for the next two weeks. The club’s bi-annual US Division road trip kicks off on Wednesday night
"We are disappointed we didn’t get two points tonight but we’ve been getting better every night," added MacGillivray. "We did some things that are going to help us be successful in heading out on the road. Were going into some tough buildings with good teams and we will have to be sharp. We’re a growing team and this trip is coming at a good time for us."
Prior to the game, the Wheat Kings announced that goaltender Jiri Patera would miss 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury. As a result, Connor Ungar has been recalled from the AJHL.
Catch that game live from Everett on Wednesday night on QCountry radio starting with the pre-game show at 8:35 MB time.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st PERIOD
BWK – Cole Reinhardt (1) (Unassisted) 3:08
SAS – Eric Florchuk (1) (Robins) 10:35
Shots: 18-9 Blades
2nd PERIOD
No Scoring
Shots: 14-5 Brandon
3rd PERIOD
SAS – Eric Florchuk (1) (McKay) SHG
Final Shots: 33-28 Saskatoon
