A stronger start was a point of emphasis for the Brandon Wheat Kings as they faced the Moose Jaw Warriors, but it was a stronger finish that gave them a much needed win.
Carter Klippenstein and Nolan Flamand scored twice each, while Marcus Nguyen added a single in a 5-2 Wheat Kings’ victory. Alex Garrett was strong in his Wheat Kings debut with 35 saves on 37 shots.
“We talked about the first ten minutes and we got down 9-1 in shots,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray with a chuckle. “I don’t know if the territorial advantage was that much, they got some rollers in but we kept them to the outside. We turned it on after the first half of the first period.”
As was the case the previous night, a goalmouth scramble led to the opening goal. Nicholas Johnson took a shot that hit the post, and in the chaos that ensued Nguyen found the puck and fired home his team-leading 16th.
A pair of 20-year-olds connected on the power play for the Wheat Kings for their next goal. Luke Shipley fired the puck to the back door for Flamand, who had it go off his skate and in as he skidded to a halt just inches from the Moose Jaw crease.
The Warriors broke through on a power play of their own early in the second. From the bottom of the right circle, Pavel McKenzie elected to keep the shot for himself and beat Garret low to cut the lead in half.
At the other end, the Wheat Kings pressed to extend their lead. The posts had their number in the second period, as the team hit a combined three, including two crossbars, one by Klippenstein. The two teams went to the intermission with the Wheat Kings still up 2-1.
The posts couldn’t keep Klippenstein off the scoresheet forever, however. In the third, he took a feed from Quinn Mantei, cut into the slot from the right wing, and put a perfect shot to the top corner.
That goal proved to be the game-winner, but Klippenstein was far from finished. Off the rush, he dangled his way right to the slot and sniped home another to make it 4-1.
The third period offensive roll wasn’t done yet. On another power play, Shipley made a beautiful spinorama move to hold the line and sent a feed to Flamand at the bottom of the right circle. He let the one-timer fly to make it 5-1.
Late in the third, the Warriors prettied up the scoreboard a bit as Connor Schmidt fired one through traffic that just leaked its way over the line. But the Wheat Kings surrendered nothing further and took the 5-2 win.
After a day of rest in Swift Current, the Wheat Kings will get back to work against the Broncos on Monday night. Puck drop is 7:00.
