The previous game, the Brandon Wheat Kings said they had done everything right except score. It turned out they’d kept some goals banked for their game against the Kelowna Rockets.
Nolan Flamand and Luke Shipley scored twice each, as the Wheat Kings hammered the Rockets 7-3. Dominik Petr, Caleb Hadland, and Matteo Michels also scored, while Ethan Eskit made 20 saves in the win.
“It was a great response for our group, especially the last half of the game,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “In the first half, we had some looks but to open it up there was huge. Going into the third period with a big lead was a pretty good feeling.”
Flamand got a storybook goal to open the scoring, and it looked pretty even without the context of his return to Kelowna. Adam Belusko held the line and fed Flamand in the middle, who worked a give-and-go with Marcus Nguyen and deposited a quick shot in the back of the Rockets’ net.
The second period was one to remember for the Wheat Kings, and Shipley started it. From the right point he sent a perfectly placed shot through traffic to the top corner to make it 2-0.
Kelowna got back within one when Hayden Paupanekis was left alone in front and swatted home his 13th. Then the Wheat Kings survived a scare when Kalder Varga hit the post off the rush, just missing tying the score.
With their first power play of the game, however, the Wheat Kings seized the momentum. Petr took the puck at the right circle and sent it back door looking for Nicholas Johnson. The puck never arrived on Johnson’s waiting tape, as it went off a backchecking Rocket and in.
Not long after, the Wheat Kings went back to work at even strength. Jaxon Jacobson left the puck for Hadland in the slot, and Hadland took an extra step to his left to out-wait his checkers before snapping one off the back bar of the net.
Another pair of power plays led to another pair of power play goals for the Wheat Kings. First, Flamand worked another give-and-go, this time with Johnson, and rifled one home from the top of the left circle. Then, the Wheat Kings teed up Michels for a one-timer at the top of that same circle and he blasted one through Rhett Stoesser.
Midway through the third, the Wheat Kings built the lead still further. With Johnson setting a screen, Shipley bounced one home to add to the rout.
The Rockets would score twice in garbage time to change the appearance of the score, one each by Dawson Gerwing and Jakub Stancl, but the result had long since been decided. The Wheat Kings amassed 55 shots on goal in an offensively dominant performance.
Next up for the Black and Gold: a trip to Kamloops to face the Blazers. Puck drop is 9:05 Central Time.
