Coming off a five-game road winning streak, the Wheat Kings returned home to face the Medicine Hat Tigers and were brought back to earth.
Kris Muissu scored what turned out to be the Wheat Kings’ only goal as they fell 8-1 to Medicine Hat. Ethan Berard made his WHL debut in relief of Filip Ruzicka in the loss.
“The first couple of shifts were ok but from then on it was boys against men,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “We were lazy, and probably looked scared tonight. They have some big, imposing guys and we went the wrong way. We hung our goaltenders out to dry and didn’t have any pushback at all. It’s not right in our barn to get outplayed like that.”
Medicine Hat turned an early penalty kill into a momentum swing in their favor. First, Kadon McCann picked up the puck in the right wing corner and fed it back out front to Owen Hayes, who drove the net for a tap-in. Then, Liam and Markus Ruck worked the puck back and forth before teeing up Luke Cozens for a one-timer and a power play goal.
In the later part of the first period, the Wheat Kings regained some momentum. Chase Surkan broke in up the left wing, shrugged off a couple of checks, and sent the puck back out front to Muissu, who one-timed home his fifth of the season.
But the second period quickly turned against Brandon. First, Markus Ruck took a pass from below the goal line and it was on and off his stick in a heartbeat for the 3-1 lead. Then, Dayton Reschny pinched up at the left circle and rifled home his second of the campaign.
Still the Tigers weren’t done. A won faceoff resulted in a quick one-timer that bounced off a couple of screening Tigers and in. And to wrap up the second period scoring, Cozens took a shot from the right wing that again found its way through traffic and in for the 6-1 lead.
The Wheat Kings thought they had stemmed the tide when Kris Muissu drove the net and the puck bounced off him and in. The referee waved it off immediately however, saying Muissu had gloved it in.
Midway through the third the Tigers struck again. This time it was Riley Steen, jumping up from the left point and picking a corner.
The final goal of the game came from 2010-born defenseman Jake Burmis, his first in the WHL as well. He carried down the left wing and snapped a shot over the shoulder of Berard for the 8-1 lead.
The Wheat Kings get the chance to move on quickly as they host the Prince Albert Raiders tomorrow afternoon. Puck drop is 4:00 PM Central Time.
