Following a 6-5 overtime win over the Swift Current Broncos, Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray asked his troops for tighter defensive play in the rematch. They cut the goals against down by three and earned another win in doing so.
Chase Surkan scored twice, and Joby Baumuller scored what proved to be the game-winning goal as the Wheat Kings downed the Broncos 3-2. Hudson Perry was strong with 29 saves on 31 shots.
“Tonight was kind of more of a Western Hockey League game,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “It had a better feel. For our group, we defended harder we didn’t give up as much, and it wasn’t as loose as we had been the last few games, so it was encouraging to wrap up the preseason like that.”
An opening period with plenty of pace and physicality saw the two teams rattle the glass plenty, but neither team broke through on the scoresheet. The only mark either team made through 20 minutes was on the penalty sheet, punctuated by a skirmish at the very end of the period.
That end-of-period unpleasantness led directly to the Wheat Kings first goal. On the power play to start the period, Surkan took a cross-seam feed and absolutely wired one to the top corner from the left circle.
It wasn’t long before the Broncos responded. Sawyer Dingman drove the slot, cutting from his right to his left, and picked a corner off the rush to tie the score.
Surkan restored the Wheat Kings lead soon after, however. On a 3-on-1 with Jaxon Jacobson and Jordan Gavin, the three of them worked the puck around until Gavin slid across to Surkan at the left side of the crease for the easy finish.
Baumuller wrote his name all over the highlight reel for the next goal. Sent in on a one-on-one by Nicholas Johnson, Baumuller toe-dragged his way right around the defenseman and snapped home his second of the preseason.
In the second half of the third period, the Broncos pushed back. Otto Hanson took a low, hard shot off the rush that found the twine to cut the lead in half.
In the dying seconds, the Broncos had a golden chance to force overtime for the second straight game. Perry, however, stoned them point blank long enough for his teammates to get the clear and secure the win.
The Wheat Kings finish the preseason with three straight victories. They open the regular season on Friday, September 19 against Moose Jaw at Assiniboine Credit Union Place.
