The Brandon Wheat Kings and Winnipeg ICE renewed their “Manitoba Battle” inside of Westoba Place on Friday night. Brandon held a 2-1 season series lead heading into the contest and they added to the win column in front of their home fans.
Backed by a touchdown of goals, the Wheat Kings beat the ICE, 7-4, in front of a packed crowd.
Darnell Duff recently chatted with Cole Reinhardt who is off to a great start with Brandon this season. He had 20 points coming into Friday’s game and that total is now up to 25. Reinhardt recorded a hat-trick and two assists in one of his best games as a Wheat King to date.
However, the first period for the most part, was the Jackson Leppard show for Winnipeg. 8:03 into the game, he gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead. That didn’t last long as captain Connor Gutenberg notched his seventh of the season to tie it up.
Both Leppard’s and Gutenberg’s goals were on the power play and Connor’s goal was at the 11:50 mark.
Just nine seconds later, Leppard scored his second of the period to give Winnipeg a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
It took until the 8:56 mark of the second to get our next goal. That’s when Marcus Sekundiak and Jonny Lambos set up Cole Reinhardt who scored his first of the game to tie it up.
Ridly Greig then gave Brandon the lead at the 12:13 mark, but that was far from it for the second.
Down 3-2 now, Owen Pederson tied the game up at the 13:46 mark. Prior to the period ending, Brandon struck again. With just 1:38 left, Lynden McCallum potted his eighth of the season to give Brandon a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes.
On a power play early in the third, Winnipeg tied it up again. At 2:35, Peyton Krebs and Connor McClennon set up Owen Pederson who scored his second of the game and sixth of the season.
That, unfortunately for the ICE, was it for them as Brandon took over the rest of the way. Marcus Sekundiak scored the game winning goal at 8:46 as Brandon went up 5-4. Cole Reinhardt made it 6-4 at 13:22 and he made it 7-4 at the 17:53 mark. That goal was the final in the contest as Brandon skated off with a convincing win on home.
The two teams will now prepare for a rematch on Saturday night. This time, the game will be played at the Wayne Fleming Arena on the University of Manitoba’s campus.
Brandon moved six points ahead of Moose Jaw for the second wildcard spot in the East with 25 points. Winnipeg, meanwhile, are three points behind Saskatoon for second in the East Division.
Wheat Tips:
- With his five point night, Cole Reinhardt is now tied at the top of Brandon’s team scoring with 25 points. He also leads the team with 16 goals. Ben McCartney and Luka Burzan are tied with Cole.
- Winnipeg went 2-for-3 on the power play and they out shot Brandon, 40-31. Brandon went just 1-for-6 on the power play.
- Jiri Patera stopped Brad Ginnell on a penalty shot midway through the second period.
