Thursday night’s late game brought together the Brandon Wheat Kings and Regina Pats.
Both teams were on streaks coming into the contest. Brandon had won four straight while Regina was coming off back-to-back wins.
The first meeting ended in a somewhat controversial fashion. Nolan Ritchie scored at 1:40 of overtime to give the Wheat Kings the victory.
The Pats turned to Roddy Ross who was in goal for his third start in four days. He was looking to continue to improve after winning his last two starts. Brandon turned to Ethan Kruger in goal.
The Pats had moved to the .500 mark on the season with a dramatic overtime win over their Highway One rivals two nights s earlier. It was the first time since the 2017-18 season that the Pats had been .500 during a season.
The Wheat Kings took advantage of the numerous miscues and mistakes as they put up a four-spot in the first period on their way to a 7-2 win over the Pats.
Halfway through the first period, the Wheat Kings strike first on a defensive zone breakdown. Lynden McCallum is left all alone in front of Ross and lifts the puck over the Pat netminder.
With Brandon down a man, the Wheat Kings capitalized on yet another turnover.
Braden Schneider made it 2-0 as he converted on a Riley Ginnell pass for the shorthanded goal.
More trouble in the Pats’ defensive zone. The Pats coughed up the puck and after a bad bounce in front, McCallum made it 3-0 a minute later.
Yet another miscue in the Pats zone led directly to a Wheat King goal. A Pat turnover led to a nice passing play in which Ridly Greig converted give Brandon a 4-0 late in the first frame.
Despite the shots being tied at 12-12, Brandon converted on most of their important opportunities and took a 4-0 lead into the first break.
Not a start the Pats wanted in this one.
The second period got off to a better start, but it did not last long.
The Pats got on the board at 6:21 of the second period. Cole Dubinsky’s shot went in off Colby Wotton who picked up his first career WHL goal on the play. The Pats now trailed by three at 4-1.
Less than two minutes later Brandon restored their four-goal advantage. Tyson Zimmer received a stretch pass, went in alone on Ross, and beat him to make it 5-1. It was Zimmer’s first career goal.
The latter half of the second period was a saw-off as both teams had chances, but no one added to their total. The Pats outshot the Wheat Kings 10-7 in the period.
Ginnell gave the Wheat Kings a 6-1 lead at 9:53 of the third period. He deflected a Vincent Iorio point shot that beat a screened Ross.
At 11:36 the Pats showed some offensive life as they made the score 6-2. Carson Denomie finished off a passing play in which he converted a Connor Bedard pass for his 10th goal of the season.
At 14:31 Nolan Ritchie threw the puck at the Pat goalie from behind the net. The puck bounced off Ross and crossed the line before it could be saved. Brandon led by a five-spot at 7-2.
The only real positive of the game was Bedard keeping his point streak alive. It was his first game after being named to Team Canada for the IIHF Under 18 World Championship. The loss aside, much of the talk was about him being selected.
“I’d probably be more excited obviously before the game, but it’s a dream come true,” said Bedard. “As a Canadian kid you kind of group up with the dream of getting to wear the maple leaf and when I found out I was over the moon excited.”
“We were hoping that we’d get him for this season, but his start has been so good,” Pats head coach Dave Struch said, “Carson Denomie has been so good for him, the fact that Carson is putting pucks in the net when (Bedard) makes plays.”
Patterings: Bedard has at least one point in all 11 games he has played (8G, 12A). Denomie’s goal was his 10th of the season which leads the league. The next action for the Pats is Saturday when they play the Winnipeg ICE at 4 p.m. at the Subway WHL Hub.
