The start in Portland wasn’t what the Brandon Wheat Kings wanted against the Portland Winterhawks, but by the end their two leading scorers had led the way to a victory.
Luke Mistelbacher scored twice, including the overtime winner, and Joby Baumuller scored as well as the Wheat Kings took a 3-2 win over the Winterhawks. Filip Ruzicka turned aside 31 of 33 shots he faced for the win.
“We got more comfortable and got to playing our game in the second and third,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “The first period was a little disappointing but we hung around and were only down one. Full credit to the guys, it was a really gritty effort to come back in the second and third.”
Just 90 seconds in, the Winterhawks opened the scoring seemingly out of nowhere. The puck popped out of a board battle to the tape of Nathan Free, who suddenly spun and fired toward the Wheat Kings net, finding a seam through traffic and making it 1-0.
Early in the second, the Winterhawks were awarded a questionable penalty shot, but there was no question about the result. Luke Wilfly skated in almost sideways, faking with his hips before snapping one five-hole on Ruzicka.
But there was no quit in the Wheat Kings. In his return to Portland, Nicholas Johnson fed the puck to Baumuller on the rush, and once he got into shooting position, he rifled a shot past Ondrej Stebetak to cut the lead in half.
Before the period was out, the Wheat Kings had tied the score. On the forecheck, Jaxon Jacobson and Caleb Hadland worked together to force a turnover, and Jacobson sent the puck out to Mistelbacher, who fired it home so quickly Stebetak didn’t even have time to turn his head to face him.
Through the third period, as the two teams battled, the tie game held. Both teams had chances, including a one-timer from in close by Brady Turko but both goaltenders stood tall.
The third period may have gone through its entirety without a goal, but overtime lasted just 24 seconds. Jacobson and Mistelbacher went to work again, with Jacobson winning a battle against two Winterhawks to feed the puck out front to Mistelbacher for a quick snapshot and the overtime winner.
The Wheat Kings move to 2-1 on the road trip and will get on the highway to Kent in preparation for a showdown with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday night.
