Both the Brandon Wheat Kings and Vancouver Giants got star-worthy performances littered with highlight reel saves in their only meeting of the season. At the end, the Wheat Kings’ star shone just a little brighter.
Filip Ruzicka was electric with 35 saves in regulation and overtime and then three more in the shootout, and the Wheat Kings beat the Giants 2-1. Jaxon Jacobson scored the lone goal for the Wheat Kings in regulation.
“I felt like we generated so much momentum coming out of the Victoria game and I thought we played an excellent game there,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “We kind of took a bit of a step back tonight, we were kind of back to our ways of being careless with the puck and not getting a lot of O-zone time. I thought we looked tired as the game wore on, but thankfully the big guy wasn’t.”
The first period featured ten minutes in minor penalties and three power plays for the Wheat Kings to two for the Giants. Yet the special teams play, despite some chances each way, did not produce any goals.
The goaltenders traded highlight reel saves in the second. Burke Hood robbed Brady Turko with his right pad after good cycle work by the Wheat Kings. At the other end, Ruzicka one-upped him with a sensational stretching blocker save on Mathis Preston during a penalty kill.
Later in the second, the power play clicked for the Wheat Kings. Jacobson out-waited a backchecking Giant, toe dragged his way to the bottom of the left circle, and rifled a perfectly placed shot under the bar for the 1-0 lead.
Ruzicka was excellent throughout the third period but eventually the Giants broke through. Preston fed the puck to the middle of the point for Kaleb Hartmann, who was ready and waiting to send the one-timer through a maze of bodies and in.
Overtime saw chances galore. But time and time again, Ruzicka and Hood each picked up where the other had left off. The game went to a shootout.
The shootout opened with a spectacular goal. Kris Muissu came in slowly, stickhandling well, and deked his way to the forehand, finishing so smoothly he left himself a wide open net to stuff in the goal.
Ruzicka took it from there. The 6-foot-7 netminder remained unscored on in his career in shootouts, turning aside all three shooters he faced for the 2-1 win.
“He looks like he could play in the NHL right now to be honest,” said Murray. “He’s so big, that’s a given, but he’s so positionally sound and so confident. To beat him it’s going to take a screened shot that bounces in off somebody, that’s right now the only way it looks like anyone is going to beat him.”
It’s a quick turnaround for the Wheat Kings as they hit the road and head to Kamloops right away. They’re up against the Blazers tomorrow night at 7:00 local time.
