As the season has progressed, the Wheat Kings have demonstrated a willingness to win the gritty, close games as well as the high-flying track meets. They demonstrated it again in a game against the Red Deer Rebels.
Joby Baumuller and Jimmy Egan scored and the Wheat Kings won 2-1 over Red Deer. Filip Ruzicka turned in another excellent effort with 26 saves on 27 shots.
“We had a lot of chances in the first period, it was kind of similar to the first period (against Red Deer) in Brandon where we had a lot of chances and didn’t put them away,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “It was a hard fought battle, a 2-1 game, it wasn’t pretty at times but a big goal by the Egan line, a hard-working grinding line, to get the game winner, I’m really happy for them.”
The Wheat Kings failed to score on a 5-on-3 opportunity, but the tail end of the one-man advantage paid dividends. Luke Mistelbacher got the puck in the high slot and fed it to Baumuller at the top of the left circle, who absolutely launched it to the top corner with a one-timer.
As was the case the last time the Wheat Kings and Rebels met, however, Red Deer answered on a funny one before the period ended. Ty Coupland brought the puck back over the blue line and fired backhander from long range that found its way through traffic and through Ruzicka to tie the game.
Prabh Bhathal was stopped on a penalty shot early in the second period, but before the period was over he had his revenge. Bhathal won a battle down low and got the puck back to the point for Nigel Boehm, who let a shot go through a screen. Egan, who helped set that multi-layered screen and had it bounce off him and in with 1:09 to play in the second period.
Though neither team could’ve known it at the time, that was the end of the evening’s offense. The two teams had chances at four-on-four, the Wheat Kings hit another post on the power play, and the Rebels pressed hard with their netminder out for the extra man for nearly three full minutes. But whatever got through critical shot blocks by the likes of Giorgos Pantelas, Nicholas Johnson, and Max Lavoie was stonewalled by Ruzicka.
The win, the seventh in a row for the Wheat Kings, moves them to 18-11-1-0 on the season. They’re right back to work tomorrow in Medicine Hat against the Tigers at 7:00 local time.
