Forty minutes of hockey passed without a goal between the Brandon Wheat Kings and Regina Pats. After twenty more minutes passed, the Wheat Kings still hadn’t surrendered any goals but had buried four of their own.
Ethan Eskit made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season, and Luke Shipley, Carter Klippenstein, Nicholas Johnson, and Roger McQueen all scored as the Wheat Kings beat the Pats 4-0. The win gives them a 6-1-1 record in the season series.
“The first two periods were pretty ugly, but we had a much better third period, scoring some goals,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “It wasn’t the prettiest, but we got out of here with a win.”
Right out of the gate, the Wheat Kings had a golden chance when Roger McQueen rifled a shot off the post. They would hit another post, and miss on a 2-on-0 rush as the period, while the Pats would hit a post of their own, and yet neither team would break the ice in that first period.
Incredibly, the second period would prove to be more of the same. The Wheat Kings struck another post, and both teams again went 0-for-1 on the man advantage. Eskit and Pats goaltender Kelton Pyne were unbeaten through 40 minutes.
The sigh of relief on the scoresheet came early in the third period for the Wheat Kings on their third power play. Shipley took a feed from Matteo Michels and stepped into prime shooting position, wiring home his 20th and the opening goal at last.
At even strength, the Wheat Kings extended their lead. Off an odd-man rush, Brady Turko put the puck right on the tape of Klippenstein as he drove the net and cashed in for the 2-0 lead.
When the Pats pulled Pyne for the extra man, the Wheat Kings put the cherry on top of the win. Marcus Nguyen spotted Johnson in the neutral zone, and the 2005-born forward salted the game away.
As it turned out, however, the Wheat Kings weren’t done. Jordan Gavin made a strip in the offensive zone and sent the puck back to McQueen, who was all alone and put on a stickhandling clinic. McQueen dodged two stick-checks as he put the puck between his legs and lifted it home.
The win gives the Wheat Kings the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and a showdown with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The playoffs begin in Lethbridge at a date yet to be officially announced.
