Though they didn’t end the game as quickly as they wanted, the Wheat City Walleye still took two vital points in the standings, and took round one of the Fishing Derby against the Lake Diefenbaker Slough Sharks.
Brady Turko scored, added an assist, and scored the shootout winner as the Walleye downed the Slough Sharks 4-3. Filip Ruzicka stopped 35 shots and all three shooters he faced in the win, while Nicholas Johnson and Jaxon Jacobson also scored.
“I thought we were inconsistent throughout the game,” said Walleye head coach and GM Marty Murray. “The first ten minutes of the first period we struggled, and then I thought we were really good in the second half of the first. Our second, I wasn’t particularly fond of, and when we get up 3-1 we’ve got to close the game out… but ultimately, you get the two points, we’ll take it and run. I think we would all have liked to get out of here in regulation.”
The first catch of the day went the way of Lake Diefenbaker. Hyde Davidson joined the rush and sent a pass from the right circle to the slot, where Anthony Wilson hammered home the opening goal.
But the Walleye had their first fish of the evening before the first period was out. Johnson found his own faceoff win on the left wing boards and sent it on goal, creating a rebound for Turko, who was stopped on his first bid but fired his second to the top corner to square the score at one.
Johnson and Turko struck again early in the second. Turko sent the puck from the right wing to a streaking Jordan Gavin, who out-waited Archer Cooke and threw it back across the crease to Johnson. The 20-year-old picked up his 21st goal and 50th point of the season as he cashed in.
Past the midway mark of the third, the Walleye had hit two posts before they finally built on their lead. Prabh Bhathal won the puck back to Luke Mistelbacher fora shot that produced a rebound. Jacobson was waiting for it and flipped it in for the 3-1 lead.
Thanks to a pair of bank shots, however, the Slough Sharks forced overtime. First, Davidson joined the rush again and bounced a puck in off the skate of a backchecking Walleye. Then, Davidson pulled off another bank shot with just over 32 seconds left in regulation, this time off the skate of Trae Johnson, to tie the score.
Despite a power play in overtime, the Walleye weren’t able to end the game in extra time. In the shootout, however, they took away the second point. Ruzicka again stopped all three shooters, and Turko beat Cooke with a snapshot to the glove side for the lone goal.
There was a scuffle at the end of the game and if anyone is feeling bad blood, they don’t have long to wait for another crack at their opponent. The Walleye host the Slough Sharks at 6:00 Central Time tomorrow night.
