With a morale-boosting milestone in sight, the Brandon Wheat Kings took an important win for the team’s psyche in the regular season finale against the Regina Pats.
Nicholas Johnson opened the scoring, and fellow 20-year-old Luke Mistelbacher closed it out as the Wheat Kings beat the Pats 4-2 on home ice. Daniil Skvortsov and Brady Turko also scored, while Filip Ruzicka stopped 27 of 29 shots he faced.
“We had a solid first period, but the second period again was a bit of a concern,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “We found a way to get it done. It was a big goal by Turks there on a good play by Hadland. We got it done. The second period was a bit of a concern but we’ll enjoy the 40th win and reflect on the season here after having a pretty successful regular season.”
A back-and-forth first period slowly began to tilt in the Wheat Kings’ favor, and they took advantage of the momentum they’d built. Johnson picked a pocket in the high slot and fired a shot through Taylor Tabashniuk to open the scoring.
In keeping with the pattern established the previous night, however, Regina struck twice in succession to take the lead. First, on a three-on-two rush, they sent the puck to Cohen Klassen at the left circle for a quick shot to the top corner. Then, off the cylce, Ruslan Karimov fired a spin-o-rama pass to a waiting Zach Lansard in front, who lifted it home.
Good cycle work netted a response for Brandon. Mistelbacher won the puck back to the left point for Skvortsov, who snapped a shot through the screen of Prabh Bhathal to tie the game.
The Wheat Kings kept pressing into the third. Turko picked off a pass at centre and sent Caleb Hadland back the other way up the right wing. Hadland left a slick drop pass right on Turko’s tape, and the Anaheim Ducks pick rifled one past Tabashniuk for the lead.
That goal would stand as the game-winner, but, not knowing that yet, the Wheat Kings built on their lead. With the Pats’ net empty, Jaxon Jacobson aired the puck to centre for Mistelbacher, and the veteran forward scored, fittingly, what would be the final goal of the regular season for the Wheat Kings.
The win, the 40th of the season for Brandon, sends Brandon into the playoffs on a high note. They’ll face the Calgary Hitmen in round one, beginning on Friday, March 27.
