SPECIAL TEAMS SINK WHEAT KINGS IN GAME THREE LOSS
Brandon, Man. – Special teams were the story of the game as the Brandon Wheat Kings fell 3-1 to the Red Deer Rebels in game three of their opening-round playoff matchup Tuesday night. Brandon went 0-for-6 on the power play while the Rebels went 2-for-7.
The opening minutes of the game were slowed by alternating power plays for each team as they were a combined 0-for-5 on the man advantage by the time the game was 12 minutes old.
Just like game two, the Wheat Kings opened the scoring in game three. After a shot from the right circle missed the Rebels net, the puck bounced off the end wall and slid up to Logen Hammett at the top of the left circle.
The Brandon defenceman wound up for a slap shot and fired the puck on goal, watching it deflect off the shin pad of Red Deer defenceman Kyle Masters and into the net. The goal game at the 16:01 mark of the first period and was assisted by Jake Chiasson and Riley Ginnell.
Brandon took the 1-0 lead into the intermission, outshooting the Rebels 9-7 after 20 minutes.
The second period started off slow for the Wheat Kings as it took them until nearly the halfway mark of the period to get their first shot on goal. After receiving a power play at the 9:19 mark of the middle frame, Brandon started to generate more offensive zone time and fire pucks toward Chase Coward.
Unable to add to their lead on back-to-back power plays in the second, the Wheat Kings then surrendered a power play goal late in the period.
Ben King had the puck in the left circle and fired a low pass toward the crease that was redirected into the net by Liam Keeler, tying the game at one with just 1:17 left in the second period.
The two teams went into the second intermission tied at one with the shots 17-16 Wheat Kings.
Brandon started the third period on the power play, but again were unable to take advantage and regain their lead. A few minutes after the power play expired, Red Deer would score on another man advantage.
The WHL’s leading scorer in the regular season, Arshdeep Bains, had the puck at the top of the left circle in the Brandon zone and slid the puck toward the crease, only for it to deflect off a Wheat King defender and past Ethan Kruger to give Red Deer a 2-1 lead.
The game remained 2-1 until the final minutes of the period when the two teams went to four-on-four. After Vincent Iorio was denied off the rush by Coward, the Rebels extended their lead.
Bains and King gained the Brandon line and King skated into the right circle before firing a shot past the blocker of Kruger for his first of the playoff, giving Red Deer a 3-1 lead with 4:34 to play.
The Wheat Kings pulled Kruger for the extra attacker in the final minutes, and even went back to the power play when Bains put the puck over the glass, but were unable to close the gap, falling to 0-for-17 on the man advantage in the series, and dropping the game 3-1.
Brandon looks to bounce back and even the series at two with a victory on home ice Wednesday night.
