There was a wild emotional high for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the third period against the Calgary Hitmen as local boy Jaxon Jacobson completed the hat trick. From there, however, the emotional heights belonged to the Hitmen.
Jacobson scored three times, and Luke Mistelbacher added another but the Wheat Kings fell 5-4 to Calgary. The Hitmen scored four times in the third period to get the win.
“We’re down to nine forwards and it’s no secret we were missing some pretty key guys up front, so you get on your heels,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “We got involved in the mess and get into a four-on-four situation that we had zero desire to get into, and then we get a penalty for holding onto the puck. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot, no question about it.”
In a deja vu moment, both teams missed on their first power play but converted on their second. The Hitmen opened the scoring when Kale Dach, in the right wing corner, fed the puck across the crease off the cycle to a wide open Ty Meunier, who tapped it in.
The Wheat Kings’ answered back before the first period was out. Jordan Gavin gained the blue line up the middle and handed the puck off to Joby Baumuller, who carried it up the right wing with speed and fed it across to Jacobson. The Wheat Kings’ leading scorer fired home his 15th to tie the game.
It took just 1:32 for the Wheat Kings to get the lead in the second. Giorgos Pantelas carried the puck in and, from the right corner, fired a pass to Mistelbacher at the top of the crease. The veteran sniper ripped his 99th career goal over the shoulder of Tu for the lead.
Late in the period, Jacobson picked up his second goal (and third point) of the evening. From the left point, Grayson Burzynski shielded the puck well and drove to the slot, and when Tu came out to challenge, Burzynski put the puck right in Jacobson’s wheelhouse for the one-timer, which the Brandon native buried.
Early in the third, Jacobson completed the hat trick. Off the rush, Mistelbacher put it on Jacobson’s tape in the high slot, and he sniped his third of the game.
From there, however, the Hitmen roared to life. Just 44 seconds later, Andrei Molgachev drove through some stick checks and found the puck in front of the Wheat Kings’ net, and lifted it home. And not even three minutes after that, the Hitmen cut the lead to one when Molgachev shot for a rebound and got one, which Ethan Moore cashed in on.
On a late power play, the Hitmen tied the game. Molgachev spotted Maze open at the top of the right circle, and Maze one-timed home the equalizer.
With only 2:09 to go in the third, a sudden turnover immediately bit the Wheat Kings as Harrison Lodewyk picked off a pass, cut to the slot, and roofed a backhander to score the game-winning goal.
The Wheat Kings have little time to lick their wounds. They’re right back to work tomorrow in Prince Albert at 7:00 Central Time.
