For a moment, it looked like the Brandon Wheat Kings had bounced back nicely from a disappointing opening night. Then, suddenly, an evening in Moose Jaw turned sour.
Jordan Gavin, Caleb Hadland, Easton Odut, Joby Baumuller, Luke Mistelbacher, Grayson Burzynski, and Nicholas Johnson all scored, but the Wheat Kings fell 9-7 at the hands of the Moose Jaw Warriors. The Warriors outshot the Wheat Kings 37 to 34.
Again it was Moose Jaw opening the scoring with a pretty play. Landen McFadden made a move to deke past a defenseman on the right wing, then drove the net and cut back to his forehand to make it 1-0 Warriors.
A similarly pretty play tied the score for the Wheat Kings. Gaining the Warriors’ zone, Jaxon Jacobson waited for help and found it coming from Gavin, putting it right on his tape and letting him step into a shot from the top of the left circle that he ripped to the top corner.
Less than a minute into the second, the Wheat Kings kept the momentum and took the lead. Hadland broke in and took the middle lane, waited for an opening, and ripped a drag shot past Kyle Jones for his first of the season.
Not two minutes later, the Wheat Kings picked up another goal on a tic-tac-toe play. Chase Surkan threw the puck to the slot for Gio Pantelas, and rather than rip the puck, Pantelas spotted Odut with a lane to the net. Odut picked up the pass, cut to the backhand, and finished off the passing play.
Moose Jaw erased the lead before the period was out. First, Riley Thorpe drove the net with a burst of speed and lifted home his first of the season. Then, Nolan Paquette pinched up and finished off a cross-ice pass to tie the game.
But the period was far from over. Hadland forced a turnover in Moose Jaw territory and handed it off to Baumuller at the right circle. Baumuller rifled one to the top corner to restore the Brandon lead.
With time ticking down on the second period, the Wheat Kings cashed in on their first power play of the night. Mistelbacher fired one from the top of the umbrella that hit the back bar so hard it popped straight back out, hit Jones as he fell back, and went right back in the net anyway.
Just as they had in the second, the Wheat Kings struck early in the third. Burzynski took a feed from Baumuller from behind the net and snapped home his first in Brandon colours.
That was when the wheels came off in truly unusual fashion. The Warriors rattled off an incredible five consecutive goals by Ethan Semeniuk, McFadden, Casey Brown, Pavel McKenzie, and Colt Carter. Stunningly, the Wheat Kings were down 8-6.
Nonetheless, on a late power play, Brandon got back within one. Burzynski let a shot go through traffic and Johnson was there for the rebound, whacking away at it until it leaked through.
The Warriors answered on a power play of their own, however, with Owen Berge snapping one through traffic to make it 9-7 and salt the game away.
The Wheat Kings next play on Saturday, September 27 against the Prince Albert Raiders.
