Everything seemed to be going the Brandon Wheat Kings’ way through forty minutes. In the third period, all the good things they’d done in the first and second seemed to slip away from them.
Dominik Petr scored twice, but the Wheat Kings fell 5-4 in overtime to the Prince Albert Raiders, losing a 3-0 lead in the process. Caleb Hadland and Marcus Nguyen also scored in the loss.
“We’re short staffed and we lost three more forwards tonight,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “You’ve got to manage a hockey game. We talk about how even taking a guy off four-on-four is a disadvantage for us with the state we’re in and we got in the mode of taking coincidental penalties and making soft plays.”
It was evident the Wheat Kings weren’t struggling with road legs in the first period. Forcing a turnover, Nolan Flamand sent Nguyen in with a lane to the net, and the veteran forward sniped home his team-leading ninth of the season.
Another goal off the rush put an exclamation point on an excellent first period. Hadland took a stretch pass from Charlie Elick and broke in 2-on-1, firing home his third goal in as many games with a low, hard shot along the ice. It capped off a period in which the Wheat Kings outshot the Raiders 14-5.
The first power play of the game went to the Wheat Kings, and they took just 12 seconds to convert on it. Luke Shipley hammered a shot on goal that leaked through, and as it sat on the line Petr dove and shovelled it in from his stomach.
The third period saw the Raiders suddenly burst loose offensively. Brayden Dube scored twice in rapid succession, first at four-on-four with a snapshot from the bottom of the circle, then on the power play with a sneaky shot from almost the same spot.
A funny hop brought the Raiders and Wheat Kings into a tie. The puck bounced off the boards back out front for a waiting Dayce Derkatch, who was only too happy to deposit his first WHL goal.
It looked like the Wheat Kings might escape anyway. Petr took a pass in the slot and, in one quick motion, ripped home his second of the game to put the home side up 4-3.
But the good news ended there. First, Niall Crocker tipped home the tying goal with only 1:16 to go. Then, Justice Christensen drove the net in overtime and batted a saucer pass out of midair to the back of the net to complete the Raiders comeback.
The Wheat Kings take the single point and get one day to rest before they go right back to work. They’ll host the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Remembrance Day in the afternoon.
