The Wheat Kings nearly got themselves into trouble against the Saskatoon Blades in the second period. A nearly-perfect third got them right back out of it again.
Nolan Flamand and Dylan Ronald scored twice each, while Marcus Nguyen and Joby Baumuller scored once each as the Wheat Kings won 6-2. Alex Garret stopped 23 of 25 shots he faced for the win in his hometown.
“We dug in and played a really strong road period,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “We generated quite a few offensive chances by playing the right way. It was nice to bury a couple there and put the game out of reach.”
Working a cycle in the Blades zone and hard work on the forecheck led to the Wheat Kings’ opening goal. As Matteo Michels picked up the puck on the far boards, he dropped it off to Ronald at the left point. Ronald sent one through traffic straight to the top corner for the early lead.
Nguyen put on a show to start the second. Dancing his way along the offensive blueline, he shed his check, drove the middle, walked right into the slot, and sniped home his team-leading 19th.
Another 20-year-old got in on the act later in the period as Flamand lifted a stick and sent the puck on goal. Evan Gardner appeared to make the save, but the puck snuck through him and, despite the best efforts of a Blades’ backchecker, got over the line for a good goal.
After killing one power play, however, the Wheat Kings had to go right back to work killing a second. On that power play, Tanner Scott found a rebound in front, dragged it to his backhand, and calmly slid home his first in Blades’ colours.
The Blades didn’t waste that momentum. Just 55 seconds later, Grayden Siepmann took a shot from the middle of the blue line that went through traffic and cut the Wheat Kings’ lead to 3-2.
Early in the third, on their first power play of the game, the Wheat Kings restored their momentum. After Caleb Hadland was stopped, Flamand found the rebound and calmly deposited his second of the game.
Flamand showed off his set-up skills next, feathering a puck through to Ronald to give him a partial breakaway from the blue line in. Ronald made no mistake, ripping a shot home to make it 5-2.
On their second power play of the evening, the Wheat Kings found Baumuller at the top of the right circle and, with the Blades covering his pass options, Baumuller ripped a low, hard shot on goal. It was low and hard enough as it turned out, thudding into the back of the net to conclude the scoring.
The win will give the Wheat Kings some confidence, and they’ll need it as they travel to Prince Albert tomorrow to face the Raiders. Puck drop is 7:00.
