For most of the game against the Everett Silvertips, the Wheat Kings either held the lead or kept the score tied. In a reversal of fortune from their win over Victoria, however, they surrendered that lead at the worst possible time.
Quinn Mantei scored twice, and Matteo Michels added a single, but the Wheat Kings fell 5-3 to the Silvertips. Carson Bjarnason stopped 33 shots in the loss.
“You’re six or eight minutes away from getting out of here with a win, probably the hardest building in the league to win in, and we came up short,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “I don’t know if that makes it worse or better when we’re that close and don’t get it done. We got soft on the walls and they make you pay.”
The first period lived up to the old hockey cliche of being a good road period for the Wheat Kings. Though they had to go on the penalty kill twice, they killed off both opportunities and held the Silvertips to just eight shots in a scoreless opening frame.
On their first power play of the game, the Wheat Kings broke through. After about 90 seconds of puck posession, Nolan Flamand fed the puck back to Mantei, and the captain snapped the puck through traffic to open the scoring.
It didn’t take the Silvertips long to reply. Just 25 seconds later, Shea Busch broke in up the middle and fired a quick wrister to the top corner to tie the score.
With just 1:55 to go in the period, the Wheat Kings regained the lead. Luke Shipley put on a show, carrying the puck around the offensive zone, dodging or just shrugging off checks and feeding it back to the point for Carter Klippenstein for a one-timer. Michels tipped the shot on its way through to give the Wheat Kings the late lead.
Early in the third, the Silvertips tied the score thanks to Carter Bear, but the Wheat Kings flipped the scrip on them. Just 18 seconds after the goal, Mantei joined the rush, took a feed from Flamand, and rifled his second of the game over the glove of Sanche.
From there, however, the Silvertips showed why they were the best team in the WHL. First, Bear tied the score at three by tipping home a point shot by Landon DuPont. Then, Cole Temple came off the bench, stole the puck, and danced right to the net, driving from his right to his left and lifting it over Bjarnason for the lead.
A late push by the Wheat Kings generated plenty of chances, but the Silvertips hit the empty net to wrap up the win.
The Wheat Kings return to Canada and to B.C. and try to reset before facing the Vancouver Giants in a Sunday matinee. Puck drop is 4:00 Central Time.
