In their first game of the preseason, the Brandon Wheat Kings found their footing as the game went on, but had dug themselves too deep a hole to climb out of by the end.
Jaxon Jacobson, Cam Coulter, and Cole Hunter all scored, but the Wheat Kings dropped the preseason opener 6-3 to the Regina Pats. Filip Ruzicka made 39 saves in regulation in the loss.
“We’re preaching some things and we as a staff look at who’s buying into what we’re selling,” said said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “Some guys did, and you saw them elevate their ice time. It was evident some guys wanted to contribute and do everything they can, other guys we have a ways to go.”
The Pats had the better of play in the first period and held the 3-0 lead to show for it. First, Ellis Mieyette was able to separate from his checker on the right wing, gain a step and lift home the opening tally. Then, while the Pats were shorthanded, Zach Moore got a bounce, went in alone, and fired home the 2-0 goal.
After Ruzicka made a stop in close on Maddox Schultz, Liam Pue found the rebound to make it 3-0. And Schultz had a chance to make it 4-0 on a penalty shot, but Ruzicka turned him aside with a stretching right pad save to steer his attempt high.
“We had some bad summer habits creep in where we turned pucks over,” Murray said. “There were some backhand plays in the neutral zone that got picked up by their best players, and they make you pay. I thought we had a little push in the second half of the game.”
The Wheat Kings started the second period with back-to-back penalty kills and they killed the first but midway through the second, the Pats built on their lead. Mieyette was at it again, this time depositing a back-door tap-in off the rush to make it 4-0.
Brandon’s power play earned some redemption after that, though the goal would not technically go as a power play goal. Kris Muissu took his time from the left circle, waited for a seam to open, and zipped it across to a waiting Jacobson, who one-timed home the first preseason goal for the Wheat Kings.
Early in the third period, the Wheat Kings bit into the lead again. Jacobson won a battle in the left corner and fed the puck out front to Coulter, who had it on his stick for no more than a second before beating Taylor Tabashniuk cleanly to the glove side for his first of the preseason.
Three minutes later, however, the Pats replied. With a maze of bodies between him and Ruzicka, Tomas Cermak found a seam from the left point and restored the three-goal lead.
Again the Wheat Kings bit into the lead, putting up a fight throughout the third. Cruz Jim found Ahmad Fayad in the slot, and his shot changed direction, producing a rebound for Hunter, who swatted it home.
With the net empty, the Wheat Kings were foiled early by a diving save from Tabashniuk. And the Pats eventually made them pay, with Jace Egland finding the empty net.
Under the WHL’s new preseason a new format “no return” overtime followed. But though the Pats had a power play, and though both Jacobson and Schultz hit a crossbar, neither team scored in extra time.
The Wheat Kings next travel to Ochapowace to face the Pats in a neutral site rematch tomorrow night.
