With roster spots and ice time on the line, it’s only fitting a final game of training camp should have some drama to it. The Black and Gold game for the Brandon Wheat Kings had more than its share, and fans who attended got all the action they could’ve hoped to see.
Nick Johnson scored a hat trick for Team Gold, but it wasn’t enough as Team Black came from behind to win the annual intrasquad game in a shootout. Five different players scored for Black.
“It’s nice for the fans and it’s nice for us as a staff that it’s such a tight game,” said winning assistant coach Mark Derlago. “Anytime you go to overtime and a shootout, it’s quite a good battle. We were happy with how the game turned out.”
Despite the high-scoring affair, offense was hard to come by at first. By the second period, the first goal was still up for grabs, and it was Johnson who found it. Off the cycle, he took a great cross-seam feed from Ben Binder Nord and stuffed it home.
Injuries limited Johnson last season, and that was after he had to get used to a new group after a trade. Now he’s happy to get a full training camp in with his squad and be here right from the very first day.
“It feels good,” Johnson said. “You get more comfortable with the guys. This summer, I took a lot of time to take care of my body. It’s going to feel good to get back into it without anything wrong with me.”
After Roger McQueen scored on a 3-on-1, Johnson buried another on a breakaway. Then, taking another pass from Binder Nord, he stuffed home his hattrick goal. Though they hadn’t played together in camp, they seemed to form chemistry quickly.
“We talked on the bench, and in the room I sat beside him too,” said Johnson. “He’s a good player, and he’s from Calgary too so I do know of him. We clicked pretty well there.”
Black answered right away, however, with Jaxon Jacobson finishing off a 2-on-1 rush with Brady Turko. Before the period was out, they’d gotten back within two when Luke Shipley patiently outwaited a shot blocker and fired one home. And early in the third, on another rush, Knox Bendera sniped home the third Black goal.
It was just seconds after Bendera’s goal that Black tied the game, with Easten Turko putting a dart through traffic to make it 4-4. The flurry continued, as Charlie Elick ripped a shot from the point and Carter Klippenstein got a tip on it to put Black ahead.
Late in the third, White got their offense going again in time to tie the score. Caleb Hadland and Marcus Nguyen worked a 2-on-1 of their own, with Nguyen finishing it off.
Overtime solved nothing despite chances each way. Jacobson and Rylen Roersma scored for Black in the shootout, with Carson Park adding the lone goal for Team White.
The Wheat Kings first exhibition game is this Friday, September 6, when they host Saskatoon.
