After their first game of the British Columbia road trip, the Wheat Kings were back to .500 and searching for some answers to offensive questions. By the end of the trip, they’d answered those questions in spades and risen to the top of the WHL standings.
Cole Slobodian scored the overtime winner and Brady Turko and Prabh Bhathal scored in regulation as the Wheat Kings beat the Kelowna Rockets 3-2 in extra time to wrap up their longest road trip of the season. Filip Ruzicka had to relieve Ryley Budd due to injury, and finished with an unblemished 26 saves on 26 shots.
“Kelowna’s got a good team, they’re big and they’re heavy and they were sitting here waiting for us when it was four games in five nights for us,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “All the odds were stacked against us. Talking to the kids after the first period, it would’ve been easy shut it down and just have a 4-2 road trip and hit the road but we didn’t. It started with a big goal in the second period.”
For the first time since the win in Victoria, the Wheat Kings did not score the first goal of the game. Jakub Frolo stole the puck at the right circle, drove the net, and made a move to the backhand to give Kelowna the 1-0 lead.
Though they’d killed a lengthy 5-on-3 against the Penticton Vees, the Wheat Kings weren’t able to escape a 5-on-3 by the Rockets. Jacob Henderson kept it simple, walking into a shot from the top of the left circle to make it 2-0.
Early in the second, the Wheat Kings cut the lead in half. Cruz Jim broke in up the right wing and sent a perfect pass to the backdoor for Turko as he drove the net and tapped in his first of the season in his 150th WHL game.
A penalty kill later in the period not only kept the Wheat Kings within one, it ended up helping them tie the game. As Bhathal stepped out of the box, he collected the loose puck, broke in alone, and opened up the five-hole on Harrison Boettiger with a slick backhand deke to tie the score.
The Wheat Kings thought they’d taken their first lead of the night when Chase Surkan pounced on a rebound and snapped it home. But the play was reviewed for offside, and the video review overturned the goal, restoring the 2-2 tie.
The third period would pass with plenty of chances, and a goal post hit by Kris Muissu after a beautiful move to cut to the high slot, but no goals either way. Overtime proved necessary.
In overtime, Turko won an offensive zone draw to Slobodian, who sent the puck down low to him beside the Rockets’ net. Slobodian saw an opportunity to jump up, and Turko put it on his tape. Slobodian made no mistake for his first goal as a Wheat King.
The Wheat Kings finish their B.C. road trip 5-1-0 for the first time in the internet era and now head home for some much needed rest. They’ll be back at ACU Place on Saturday, October 17, when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers.
