Before the game against the Swift Current Broncos, head coach and GM Marty Murray challenged his big guns to be the best players on the ice. Consider the challenge met.
Marcus Nguyen and Dominik Petr scored twice each and Nicholas Johnson, Giorgos Pantelas, and Nolan Flamand each scored once in a 7-4 barnburner of a win. Ethan Eskit made 20 saves in the win.
“I’m very proud of our guys,” said Murray. “We came in with ten forwards and five D and that’s not easy to do. We came in the day of the game as well. Our guys did a great job of rallying. It was a good effort tonight.”
Johnson started a play and ended it on the game opening goal. He picked off a Broncos pass and broke back in up the right side, snapping a low, hard shot past Reid Dyck for the first goal of the contest.
Later in the first, Johnson tried to repeat his goal, driving the slot and rifling one that this time Dyck stopped. He left a rebound, however, and Nolan Flamand found it first behind the net, feeding it out front to Nguyen for his 26th of the season.
The two teams traded goals through the second, and the Wheat Kings led the scoring off again. Matteo Michels stole the puck behind the net and lifted it out front to Pantelas as he pinched up, and Pantelas made no mistake for his third of the season. The goal also ended Dyck’s night.
The answer for the Broncos came on a strange play. As the puck bounced around between players in the Wheat Kings’ slot, Otto Hanson took a swipe at it and chopped a knuckleball past Eskit for the Broncos’ first tally.
The Wheat Kings answered immediately. Adam Belusko hit Brady Turko with a stretch pass, and Turko sent it into the middle right away for Petr to skate onto. Petr picked it up and shot it in stride for his 10th of the season.
On their first power play of the game, the Broncos responded quickly. Just 11 seconds into the penalty, the Broncos fed Carlin Dezainde in the slot, and he one-timed home his 25th.
Tempers flared later in the second as Caleb Hadland finished a Richter-scale check on William Morin as he cut to the middle. The officials reviewed the hit, after which Morin had to be helped off, but found no penalty to be called.
Early in the third, the Wheat Kings expanded their lead again. Nguyen and Flamand worked a slick criss-cross passing play before slinging it across to Petr, who had a step up the left side. Petr picked his spot, sniping his second of the game short side.
With the two teams at four-on-four, the Broncos then got a four-on-three and immediately cashed with a quick shot from the left circle by Hunter Mayo. Then, at five-on-five, Grayson Burzynski drove the net off the left wall and beat Eskit to the far post to cut the lead down to one.
But again, the Wheat Kings found the answer on their power play. This time, it was Nguyen feeding Flamand at the top of the left circle, and Flamand ripped a shot home to put the Wheat Kings back ahead by a pair.
The goal-fest came to an end with the Broncos net empty, as Nguyen found the empty cage to make it 7-4. The Wheat Kings hit the trail home but will be on the road for their next game as well as they travel to Moose Jaw to face the Warriors on Friday night.
