Just one game after their offense hit something of a wall against the Calgary Hitmen, the Wheat Kings did a lot more than just bounce back. They positively exploded against the Swift Current Broncos.
Jaxon Jacobson, Joby Baumuller, and Cameron Allard all scored twice, and Carter Klippenstein, Nicholas Johnson and Jimmy Egan scored once each. Filip Ruzicka made 27 saves in the lopsided 9-4 win.
“We can score all right,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “There were a lot of pretty plays tonight. We gave up two in the first eight minutes but we settled in really well for the rest of the game. They got an unfortunate one there in the third period but overall it was a really good effort when you score that many.”
The Broncos started the scoring in what proved to be an offense-oriented first period. Jace McFaul jumped up to the slot as the Broncos worked a cycle, and swatted home a feed from behind the net.
The answer from the Wheat Kings took mere seconds. After Baumuller’s shot was blocked, Allard found the rebound and picked his spot from the point, finding the top corner through traffic to tie the game.
But the goal scoring was just beginning. The Broncos answered off the rush as Noah Kosick fed it across to Stepan Kuryachenkov for a one-timer from the top of the right circle that beat Ruzicka for the 2-1 lead.
From there, the Wheat Kings quickly got back into it. Luke Mistelbacher fed Caleb Hadland in the slot, but rather than one-time it, Hadland sent it back door to Jacobson for the tap in and the tie game.
On their first power play of the game, the Wheat Kings took their first lead. Grayson Burzynski drove around the net from the left wing to the right corner and fed the puck back out front to Klippenstein, who made no mistake for his first power play goal of the season.
Not even four minutes later, the Wheat Kings added to their lead. Baumuller drove the net and was stopped, but was the first man on his own rebound. Circling back from the left wing, he threw the puck low and hard past Joey Rocha.
The Broncos got a power play of their own, however, and responded with a goal with just 14 seconds to go. Marek Rocak took a point shot that found its way through traffic and trickled over the line to cut the Wheat Kings’ lead in half.
About seven minutes into the second, the Wheat Kings struck back. Brady Turko freed up the puck with hard work on the forecheck, and Egan fed the puck out front to Johnson. Johnson’s shot was partially blocked, but it went high in the air and landed behind Rocha.
Just 38 seconds later, Allard picked up in the second period where he’d left off in the first. With Gunnar Gleasman setting the screen, Allard fired a puck from the right point that found its way past Rocha and subsequently ended his evening.
His replacement, Aiden Eskit, did not get an easy welcome to the net. Just 20 seconds after he came in, Klippenstein fed the puck from the left circle to the slot for a waiting Baumuller, who chipped it over Eskit’s shoulder and in.
Still the Wheat Kings were not done. Gio Pantelas held the right point and sent a pass to the front of the net for Egan, who cut to his backhand and stuffed home his first WHL goal.
A truly strange bounce gave the Broncos some life in the third as Caleb Potter’s dump in bounced out of the corner and in, but the Wheat Kings snuffed that momentum out. Jacobson drove in off a neutral zone turnover, and he and Hadland worked almost an exact replica of their first period passing play that ended with Jacobson tapping one in at the left side of the crease.
The win sends the Wheat Kings on the road on a high note. They’ll travel to Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes on Friday night at 7:00 local time, 8:00 Central.
