A severely undermanned Wheat Kings’ squad faced a tough test on home ice against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Young players and veterans alike answered the challenge emphatically.
Nolan Flamand had a three point night and Carson Bjarnason stopped 37 shots as the Wheat Kings took a 4-1 win. Caleb Hadland, Gio Pantelas, and Marcus Nguyen also scored in the victory.
“Proud is the word to use,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “It would’ve been easy to fold the tent with so many guys out, not only bodies but good players too, and I’m real proud of the effort here. We had a bit of a bend but don’t break mindset here in two really good efforts.”
The only power play of the first period went the Wheat Kings’ way, and they made it count. Jaxon Jacobson took a clever shot from the top of the umbrella, and Flamand was perched at the top of the crease to tip it home, pushing his goal scoring streak to three games.
Though the Thunderbirds pressed hard in the second, it was the Wheat Kings who broke through. Flamand won a battle below the goal line and fed the puck out front to Hadland, who made no mistake from the bottom of the left circle.
Minutes later, the Wheat Kings buzzed in the offensive zone again. This time, the puck came to Pantelas, who ripped a shot straight to the top corner past a screened Scott Ratzlaff for his first WHL goal.
In the third, Nguyen showed off his stickhandling to stretch the lead to 4-0. Picking up a rolling puck at the left circle, he dangled his way loose from two checkers and ripped a puck to the top corner.
Braeden Cootes would spoil Bjarnason’s shutout bid with a bullet of a shot off the rush from the top of the right circle, but that was the sum of the Thunderbirds’ offense. The Wheat Kings would cruise to their second straight win.
Next up, still on home ice, the Wheat Kings host the Saskatoon Blades on Friday, October 25.
