While they didn’t pile up shots the way they did against the Moose Jaw Warriors, the Wheat Kings made their chances count on the road against the Regina Pats. This time, they overcame a slow start as well.
Jaxon Jacobson scored twice, and Carson Bjarnason was named third star with 25 saves, as the Wheat Kings took a 5-2 win over the Pats. Caleb Hadland, Adam Belusko, and Marcus Nguyen also scored in the win.
“We had a good response after one, though it was disappointing to start the game as flatly as we did,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “We found a way to get it done in the second and third.
After the Wheat Kings hit a goal post, they gave up an odd-man rush the other way, and Regina made them pay for it. Julien Maze kept the shot for himself on the 2-on-1 and made no mistake from the left circle to open the scoring.
The second period saw the Wheat Kings offense come to life again, led by Jacobson, Hadland, and Jordan Gavin. They worked a perfect 3-on-2 with the puck moving right to left, then back to right again with Jacobson slapping it home.
The same unit but in a different order scored on the first power play of the game for the Wheat Kings. This time it was Jacobson to Gavin to Hadland, who one-timed it home from the bottom of the right circle.
Immediately after, the Wheat Kings had their first two-goal lead of the night. Belusko broke the puck in himself and threw the puck to the net hoping for a bounce. He got one, and cashed in with his second of the season as the puck bounced off a Pats’ skate on its way to the net.
On their third power play of the game, the Pats pulled to within one. Ephram McNutt got the puck at the top of the right circle and walked into a well-placed shot that cut the lead to 3-2.
The Pats pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker, but the Wheat Kings cashed in on the empty net almost immediately. Nicholas Johnson chipped it up ice to Nguyen, and while Nguyen was hauled down, the puck ended up in the empty net anyway.
When the Pats tried with the extra man again, the wheat Kings made them pay again. Gavin fed the puck out front to Jacobson, and he put the game on ice.
The Wheat Kings head home to welcome the Wenatchee Wild on Wednesday, February 5. Puck drop in that one will be at 7:00.
