Brandon, MB (CKLQ) – Zach Russell scored twice as the Brandon Wheat Kings knocked off Moose Jaw 3-2 on Friday night.
In the final home game of the WHL pre-season schedule, Brandon got off to a flying start.
Rylan Bettens opened the scoring just 1:44 into the game when he took a perfect feed from Jonny Hooker and beat Adam Evanoff along the ice.
The Warriors would tie things up off a series of turnovers in the Wheat Kings end. Justin Almeida found a loose puck and beat Ethan Kruger to send the game into intermission deadlocked at one.
The teams would exchange 2nd period goals before Zach Russell notched his 2nd of the night as the eventual game winner just 5:18 into the third period.
Ethan Kruger and Dylan Myskiw combined to make 36 saves for the victory while Evanoff stopped 29 shots in the losing effort.
Brandon and Moose Jaw will meet again on Saturday night to wrap up the pre-season schedule.
Game time is 8:00 p.m. (MB Time), the Q-Country pre-game show begins at 7:30 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period:
BWK – Rylan Bettens (Hooker, Gutenberg) 1:44
MJ – Justin Almeida (Bast, Kwaitkowski) 12:50
Shots: 15-6 Brandon
2nd Period:
BWK – Zach Russell (McCorrister, Thompson) 5:52
MJ – Colin Paradis (White, Langan) 19:09 PPG
Shots: 12-6 Moose Jaw
3rd Period:
BWK – Zach Russell (Wegleitner, Wytinck) 5:18
Final Shots: 38-32 Moose Jaw