The Wheat Kings showed no quit despite the numbers working against them in the third period against the Swift Current Broncos. They simply ran out of time.
Nicholas Johnson and Caleb Hadland scored, and Ethan Eskit finished with 29 saves as the Wheat Kings fell 4-2.
“I thought our third period was quite strong and our guys showed a lot of heart,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “We had some really good opportunities to tie the game up and came up a little short.”
Midway through the first period, the Broncos broke through the defensive bubble. Luke Mistelbacher fired a hard pass from the right wing that bounced its way to the slot and right to the tape of Grayson Burzynski for the opening tally.
It took the Wheat Kings just over a period to respond, but they tied it up. Nolan Flamand won a battle behind the net and sent the puck out to Johnson, who showed great patience cutting to the backhand and tucking it home.
But the Broncos got it back off a bad turnover as the Wheat Kings tried to clear the zone. Eskit made a great stop on Trae Wilke, but Clarke Caswell found the rebound and hooked it home to make it 2-1.
With time ticking down in the second, the Wheat Kings relaxed at just the wrong moment. Brady Birnie fed the puck to Burzynski from behind the net, and he scored a deflating goal with just .7 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Wheat Kings gave themselves some life. Dominik Petr won a battle on the forecheck and sent the puck out front to Hadland, and Hadland sniped his 19th.
With the Wheat Kings’ net empty, however, the Broncos put the game out of reach. Birnie won a footrace as the Broncos dumped the puck down ice and fed it out front for the empty netter by Carlin Dezainde.
The Wheat Kings have a run of three straight at home, and are hoping for some better news on the health front in between now and then. First up are the Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday night.
