Keith Hershmiller/WHL
2021-22 WHL Season, East Division, Eastern Division

The Eastern Division Rundown: November 12, 2021

Written by Kevin Shaw on

 

Maier sparkled against Wheat Kings, Raiders fell to the Rebels, the Broncos took out the Hitmen, and the Oil Kings doubled the Pats in Eastern Division action on Friday night in the WHL.

Here is what took place.

Saskatoon 2 at Brandon 1

Nolan Maier April 8, 2021 (Keith Hershmiller/WHL)

Nolan Maier was a man on a mission Friday night. The Saskatoon Blades netminder made 46 saves to pick up his 100th career WHL win in a 2-1 victory over the host Brandon Wheat Kings. 2,543 witnessed the Wheat Kings outshoot the Blades 47-20 only to have Maier stymie them over and over.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere opened the scoring for the Blades with his first goal of the season. His point shot eluded Ethan Kruger in the Wheat King net. Kyle Crnkovic and Tristen Robins picked up assists on the powerplay goal at 15:04 of the first period of play.

Maier not only made saves, but he also made some outstanding saves (like the one above).

Despite being outshot 30-14, the Blades took a 1-0 lead into the third period.

The Blades increased their lead at 1:33 of the third period when Robins fired home his 10th of the campaign giving him a league-leading 27 points.

Ridly Greig spoiled Maier’s shutout at 11:12 of the third period when he one-timed a Nate Danielson shot past the glove of Maier.

The Blades finished 2-for-5 on the powerplay while the Wheat Kings went 0-for-4.

Notes… Grieg had 14 shots on goal for the Wheat Kings… Maier collected first star honors… Robins was the second star with two points (1G, 1A) … Grieg was third star scoring Brandon’s lone goal… Kruger made 18 saves in the Wheat King loss.

Red Deer 4 at Prince Albert 2

The Red Deer Rebels beat the Raiders 4-2 at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. 2,381 witnessed Ben King score twice to lead the Rebels to their third straight victory and to keep pace with the Edmonton Oil Kings for first place in the Central Division.

Hayden Pakkala opened the scoring for the Raiders 6:41 into the first period. His third of the season put the Raiders up 1-0. Zachary Wilson and Kaiden Guhle assisted on Pakkala’s goal.

Defenseman Blake Gustafson tied the game for the Rebels at 11:55. Gustafson’s second of the season was assisted by Arshdeep Bains and Jhett Larson made the score 1-1.

Just over three minutes later 19-year-old King scored his first of two in the game on the powerplay to give the Rebels a 2-1 lead. King’s 11th of the season at 14:56 was assisted by Kai Uchacz.

The Rebels added to their lead at 6:06 of the middle twenty when Jace Weir connected with his third goal of the season. Christoffer Sedoff and Kyle Masters assisted on the 17-year-olds goal. The Rebels were now up 3-1 in the game.

King added his second goal of the game less than three minutes later, which proved to be the insurance goal. Larson picked up the assist on King’s 12th goal.

23 seconds before the second period ended Nolan Allen sniped his second goal of the season to pull the Raider to within a pair. Harrison Lodewyk and Vladislav Shilo drew the helpers on the 4-2 goal.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the third period and Red Deer skated away with a 4-2 win.

Red Deer outshot Prince Albert 27-20 in the contest.

The Rebels went 1-for-3 on the powerplay, and the Raiders went 0-for-5.

Notes… King and his pair of goals garnered first star honors… Larson collected the second star with two helpers… Pakkala grabbed the third star. Wilson and Lodewyk each picked up their first career WHL points for the Raiders. Chase Coward stopped 18 of 20 Raider shots… Carter Serhyenko and Tikhon Chaika combined to make 23 saves in the loss.

Calgary 1 at Swift Current 5

Isaac Poulter (Photo-Ed Fonger)

The Broncos scored four second-period goals in a 5-1 win over the visiting Hitmen at the Innovation Credit Union I-Plex. 1,326 witnessed as five different Broncos lit the lamp in the win.

Brady Birnie opened the scoring for the Broncos 7:48 into the game. Cole Nagy picked up the lone assist on Birnie’s second goal of the season (second of his career).

Less than a minute later the Hitmen tied the game. Oliver Tulk scored his second goal of the season and second of his WHL career. Sean Tschigerl and Zack Funk picked up the helpers on the 1-1 goal.

The floodgates opened in the second period for the Broncos.

Sam McGinley opened the frame with his first of the season at 8:26 to give the Broncos the 2-1 lead. Caleb Wyrostek and Rylan Gould got the assists on the 19-year-olds fifth career goal.

Owen Pickering added to the Broncos lead when he scored his second of the season on the powerplay. Mathew Ward and Josh Filmon added assists on the 17-year-old defenseman’s goal at 10:59 of the middle period.

Filmon added to the Bronco lead just over four minutes later. Ward assisted on Filmon’s sixth of the season. At 15:06 of the second period, the Broncos had a 4-1 lead.

Gould rounded out the scoring for the Broncos when he picked up his third goal of the season. The 16-year-old gave the Broncos a 5-1 lead with just five seconds left in the second period.

Both teams were held off the scoreboard in the third period and the Broncos skated to a 5-1 win.

The Hitmen outshot the Broncos 36-20 in the game.

Swift Current went 1-for-4 on the powerplay, and Calgary went 0-for-3.

Notes… Isaac Poulter made 35 saves for the Broncos who now move to 5-7-2-1 on the season… Brayden Peters and Ethan Buenaventura combined to make 15 saves… Gould was named the first star… Ward was named the second star… Poulter finished the three-star sweep picking up third-star honors.

Edmonton 6 at Regina 3

A full game story for the Pats 6-3 loss can be found here.

Regina Pats vs Edmonton Oil Kings, November 12, 2021 (Keith Hershmiller)