The Brandon Wheat Kings ran their home-ice winning streak to seven games Friday night by blanking the Red Deer Rebels 4-0.
Jordan Papirny stopped 29 shots for his ninth career shutout while Jordan Thomson, Tyler Coulter, Nolan Patrick and Macoy Erkamps scored the goals for Brandon.
After being blown out 10-0 by the Rebels two weeks ago in Red Deer, Friday’s victory was sweet for Brandon.
“This is, by far, one of the biggest wins of the year, especially how things didn’t go well in our Alberta swing there,” said Papirny on CKLQ’s post-game show, “After that game (on January 2), we had this game circled and I know for myself, I really wanted a bounce-back effort against these guys and everything just went well tonight.”
Jayce Hawryluk added two assists in his return to the Wheat Kings’ lineup after serving a five-game suspension.
While it didn’t show up on the scoresheet significantly, the work of Brandon’s third and fourth lines were key in the win.
“They did a really good job, they were really effective and allowed us to play four lines, which is when we play our best,” said Brandon GM/Coach Kelly McCrimmon, “We talked about it before the game that we were going to need contributions from every guy. When you’re playing a really good team, you have to have every guy on board and I thought that tonight, we did.”
The victory allowed the Wheat Kings to maintain their two-point lead over second-place Prince Albert in the East Division standings, and allowed Brandon to close to within two points of the second-place Rebels on the Eastern Conference standings.
The Wheat Kings will conclude their four-game home stand by hosting Moose Jaw Saturday night (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).
