For the second night in a row, the Brandon Wheat Kings entered a third period tied at two with the chance to seize two points. This time, they made good on their chance.
Quinn Mantei, Jordan Gavin, and Nicholas Johnson all scored, and Carson Bjarnason was in fine form with 38 saves as the Wheat Kings beat the Oil Kings 3-2. The Wheat Kings picked up 33 shots of their own at the other end.
“We got a big power play goal when we needed it,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “Last night, we had an opportunity in the third on the power play and didn’t get it done and Red Deer did. But tonight, when the chips were down, we scored a huge power play goal.”
Late in the first period, the Oil Kings struck off a scramble in front. Bjarnason made the initial save on the point shot from Blake Fiddler, but the rebound dropped right on the tape of Marshall Finnie, who swatted it home for the 1-0 lead.
Early in the second, just as a power play expired, the Wheat Kings found the answer. Mantei took a shot through traffic from the right point, with Nolan Flamand setting the screen in front. Mantei bounced his shot off an Oil Kings’ defenseman in to tie the score.
Again the Oil Kings took the lead following a turnover in the corner of the Wheat Kings zone. The Oil Kings fed the puck back out front, and 2009-born forward Kayden Stroeder tucked in his fourth of the season on the backhand.
But the Wheat Kings answered back before the period was out. Roger McQueen drove the puck into the Oil Kings’ zone and flipped it to Gavin on the left circle. From there, Gavin unleashed a perfect wrist shot to once again tie the game.
The only power play of the third period went the Wheat Kings’ way, and they made it count. Caleb Hadland faked the drop pass at the point, cut to the middle, and snapped one through traffic that Johnson got a tip on to put the Black and Gold on top for the first time in the game.
As it turned out, that was all the scoring the Wheat Kings would need. Bjarnason held his ground late, and the Wheat Kings gave him some timely shot blocks to will their way to a win.
It’s a day off for the Wheat Kings tomorrow, giving them time to rest up before a tough test against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night. Puck drop is 8:00 Central Time.
