From tough second periods to bad luck on the power play, the Wheat Kings reversed a number of recent trends against the Saskatoon Blades. Most importantly, they brought their losing skid to a halt.
Grayson Burzynski, Prabh Bhathal, and Joby Baumuller scored, and Filip Ruzicka was excellent with 35 saves as the Wheat Kings beat the Saskatoon Blades 3-1 in their building. The final shots were 36-32 for Saskatoon.
“I thought we were pretty consistent throughout,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “The first period we took a couple of penalties where they got some shots and Ruzicka stood tall, pardon the pun. He made some big saves. We were consistent and we had good efforts up and down the line-up.”
After a successful penalty kill, Jaxon Jacobson drew a double-minor for high-sticking and the Wheat Kings made it count. Jacobson fed the puck to Jordan Gavin at the right circle, and Gavin spotted Burzynski at the top of the umbrella. The veteran defenseman waited for a seam to open up and picked a corner to open the scoring.
This time around, the Wheat Kings had the better of their opponent in the second period as well. On the cycle, Jimmy Egan wound around the net but, rather than come all the way out the far side, he switched the angle and fed it back the way he’d come, setting up Bhathal for his first of the season.
The Wheat Kings spent the majority of their third period power play in the offensive zone but couldn’t solve Ryley Budd this time, and the Blades made them pay. David Lewandowski took the puck to the right wing corner and fed it out front to Zach Olsen, who one-timed it in.
That, however, was the final goal Ruzicka surrendered. With the Blades net empty, Gavin fed it off to Baumuller in the clear, and he made no mistake on his 29th.
The Wheat Kings head home with some momentum, though they won’t stay at home for long. They host the Victoria Royals in their final game before the U.S. road trip on Friday night.
