Winning the special teams battle is often a key to winning the game in the WHL, and the Wheat Kings won the special teams battle in a big way in their game against the Kamloops Blazers on Thursday, October 16.
Luke Mistelbacher, Chase Surkan, Gio Pantelas, Joby Baumuller, Caleb Hadland, and Carter Klippenstein all scored and the power play went 3-for-3 as the Wheat Kings took a 6-3 win. Filip Ruzicka stopped 27 of 30 shots thrown his way for his second win.
“The first period was a little suspect and we got down 2-0 again, but our response was really good, especially in the second half of the game,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray.
The big guns opened the scoring for Kamloops. From the bottom of the left circle, Josh Evaschesen found JP Hurlbert at the far side of the net and the WHL’s leading scorer didn’t miss the wide open net.
A turnover later in the period cost the Wheat Kings immediately. After the Blazers picked off a pass behind the Brandon net, they fed it out front, with Jordan Keller leaving a drop pass on the tape of Tommy Lafreniere. The Oilers’ draft pick sniped the 2-0 goal from the high slot.
After killing off a Blazers’ power play, the Wheat Kings got a chance on one of their own and made it count. Surkan’s shot was blocked, but he found the rebound and sent it to Jordan Gavin, who slid the puck across the crease to Mistelbacher for his fifth goal in the last four games.
The Blazers got a power play of their own early in the second and repaid the favor. Nathan Behm broke in with speed and fired the puck to Evaschesen for his third in the last two games.
The back-and-forth in power plays continued and the Wheat Kings made good on another. Jaxon Jacobson found Surkan at the bottom of the left circle, and when the Blazers took away his passing options, Surkan kept for the shot and snapped home his seventh of the season.
The only even-strength goal of the period came on a solo effort complete with some desperation. Pantelas drove the puck up ice himself and broke in one-on-three, and when he ran out of room to skate he fired the puck at the net, got a good bounce, and watched his shot find the top corner for his first of the season.
The power play stayed white hot for the Wheat Kings from there, with the second unit getting in on the act. Nicholas Johnson broke in to his left and took a defenseman wide, dropping it off to Hadland. Hadland’s shot produced a rebound and Baumuller pounced on it to give the Wheat Kings their first lead of the game.
Early in the third, the Wheat Kings picked up at even strength where they’d left off on the power play. Jacobson took a feed in the slot, and while his shot was blocked he stuck with it and sent it out front to Hadland for a quick snapshot and a 5-3 lead.
Gavin played set-up man again later in the third to stretch the lead. This time, he found Klippenstein at the top of the right circle off the rush, and he rifled one through the five-hole to make it 6-3.
The win was the second of the season for the Wheat Kings, and the second against a non-conference opponent. They’ll finally hit the road to face the Regina Pats on Saturday night with puck drop at 7:00 Central Time.
