Keith Hershmiller
Eastern Division

Wheat Kings topple Pats 5-4 in important contest for both teams

Written by Kevin Shaw on

 

It what was an almost must-win for the Regina Pats, the Queen City Kids fell to the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-4 on Tuesday night at Westoba Place in Brandon.

The Pats fell to 24-34-3-2 which has them at 53 points with five games left. They are nine points out of seventh (Hurricanes, 62) and six out of eighth (Broncos, 59) with a possible 10 points left. Nothing is official but unfortunately for the Pats, it is getting close.

The win gave the Wheat Kings 71 points and that much closer to clinching at least sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

On to the game:

The first period saw some decent scoring chances, some decent goaltending, and no goals through the opening 20 minutes.

Drew Sim (nine saves) and Ethan Kruger (14 saves) were great through the opening period.

After no one was able to find the back of the net in the first period of play, the two teams erupted for five goals with Brandon scoring three of them.

Nate Danielson got the Wheat Kings on the board when he tipped a Jake Chiasson pass towards the Pats net. The puck squeaked through Sim’s wickets to give the Wheat Kings a 1-0 lead. The powerplay goal was Danielson’s 22nd of the season.

Logan Nijhoff got the game back on even terms when he scored his 18th of the season. Layton Feist’s long-distance shot caromed off the end boards and out to Nijhoff who made no mistake burying the puck past Kruger. The 1-1 goal came just 1:19 after the Wheat Kings took the lead.

The Pats took the lead at the 15:29 mark of the period when Jakob Brook tipped in his fourth of the season off a long-distance shot from Feist giving the Pats a 2-1 advantage.

Lead? What lead?

Just 1:17 later the Wheat Kings erased the Pats’ lead.

Jake Chiasson took it upon himself to get the Wheat Kings back to even. The forward took the puck in the neutral zone got in on his off-wing and tucked a pretty backhand short side past Sim. His fourth of the season made it 2-2 at the 16:46 mark of the second.

Late goals are killers and the Pats are used to allowing them this season. It happened again tonight.

With 20 seconds left in the middle frame, Chiasson put a shot towards the Pat goal where Nolan Ritchie got a piece and tipped it at Sim, who stopped the initial shot, but Ritchie buried the rebound to give the Wheat Kings a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission.

The teams tied 12-12 on the shot clock but the Pats had a 26-21 lead after forty minutes.

Early goals matter as much as late goals, and the Wheat Kings added to their lead early in the third.

Mason Ward gave the Wheat Kings a 4-2 lead as he ripped home his fourth of the season over Sim’s blocker just 1:23 into the third period.

Nijhoff scored his second of the game as he deflected a Connor Bedard shot past Kruger to get the Pats back into the contest at 4-3. The powerplay marker was Nijhoff’s 19th of the campaign just over two minutes later at 3:38.

Brett Hyland gave the Wheat Kings a two-goal lead when he scored his 13th of the season as he tipped home a point blast from Nychuk that beat Sim through the five-hole. The powerplay goal at 14:13 made it 5-3.

Nijhoff notched his first career hat-trick to get the Pats back to within one. He picked up a rebound in front of the Wheat King net and deposited it past a down and out Kruger. His 20th of the year at 17:15 gave the Pats some light only down 5-4.

It was too little too late as the Pats fell to the Wheat Kings 5-4.

The Pats went 1-for-4 on the powerplay and the Wheat Kings went 2-for-4.

The Pats actually outshot the Wheat Kings 32-29 in the game.

Patterings: The Pats were without defensemen Ryker Evans and Stanislav Svozil for the contest… Jacob Dewitt made his season debut… The three stars were: Chiasson (1G-2A), Nijhoff (3G), and Danielson (1G-1A)… The Pats’ next action is Friday when they travel to Swift Current to take on the Broncos.