Wheat Kings double up on Warriors

The short-staffed Brandon Wheat Kings rode a pair of goals by overage forward Marcus Nguyen to their second road victory of the week with a 6-3 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors in Western Hockey League action at Moose Jaw Events Centre on Friday.

Brandon (27-16-4-3) received two goals from Marcus Nguyen and singles from Matteo Michels, Jordan Gavin, Nick Johnson and Joby Baumuller, with Owen Berge, Pavel McKenzie and Lynden Lakovic replying for Moose Jaw (11-36-4-2) in front of a crowd of 2,850.

The two teams meet again tonight at Westoba Place at 7 o’clock.

Brandon played without defencemen Luke Shipley (upper body, week-to-week) and Merrek Arpin (upper body, week-to-week) plus forwards Roger McQueen (upper body, week-to-week) Jaxon Jacobson (lower body, week-to-week), Easton Odut (upper body, indefinite) and Caleb Hadland (lower body, day-to-day), who had a 137-game streak snapped when he couldn’t play.

Brandon had defensive prospect Cameron Allard in the lineup again, allowing it to dress 10 forwards six defencemen and two goalies. Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it was good effort after Moose Jaw took an early lead.

“They got the first one and I thought we had a real good response,” Murray said. “We scored three in about two-and-a-half minutes there so that was a huge response for us. I thought it was the difference in the game. We got a couple in the second so that was good. We would rather not to have given up those two late ones, but with the bodies we have, two points was the main goal.”

The Warriors scored five minutes nine seconds into the first period when the puck was knocked off the blade of Lynden Lakovic — the newly named captain returned to the lineup after being hurt in a game against the Wheat Kings on Dec. 28 — and it rolled to Berge near the crease, where he swept the puck behind Brandon goalie Carson Bjarnason.

Two minutes later, the Wheat Kings took over the game with the first of three goals in two minutes 17 seconds.

Brandon tied the game at the 7:47 mark, just after an unsuccessful power play ended. Nolan Flamand skated off the boards into the middle and sent a shot on net that Nguyen deflected past Moose Jaw goalie Matthew Hutchinson for his team-leading 28th goal of the season.

Brandon forced a turnover in the Moose Jaw end and Jordan Gavin found Michels in the slot to make it 2-1, and just 39 seconds later on the same shift, the puck bounced to Gavin on the rebound of a shot by Michels to give Brandon a quick 3-1 lead.

They extended the lead 54 seconds into the middle frame when Nguyen spun with the puck below the faceoff dot and sent a shot between Hutchinson’s legs, spelling the end of his net as Josh Banini came in.

The Wheat Kings welcomed the new netminder 10 minutes later on the power play when Johnson deflected a shot by captain Quinn Mantei past Banani to make it 5-1.

Moose Jaw nearly scored 15 minutes into the period when defenceman Nolan Paquette got a good shot away but Bjarnason got a piece of it, and when it bounced off the post behind him and back in front, the big goalie kicked it to safety.

Banini was very good in the third period, denying Nguyen on a breakaway and Johnson on a one-timer when he flashed his glove to keep the puck out. At the other end, Bjarnason did a good job of extinguishing any Moose Jaw momentum by holding onto shots for whistles.

The Warriors drew closer with 6:34 remaining when McKenzie jumped on a rebound with 6:34 remaining to make it 5-2, and Lakovic connected on a late power play with 80 seconds left when he beat Bjarnason between the pads.

With 52.3 seconds left and Banini out of the Moose Jaw net for an extra attacker, Brandon created a turnover near the blue-line and Baumuller found the empty net to put the game away.

Bjarnason made 30 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Hutchinson and Banini stopping 24 shots for the Warriors.

Brandon went 1-for-2 on the power play, with Moose Jaw successful once in four chances.

The Wheat Kings beat the Swift Current Broncos 7-4 on Tuesday.

“We’re clicking along pretty good,” Murray said. “We made some nice plays after getting into the scoring areas, which is something we’ve been talking about all year. It’s nice. We only have 10 forwards and to pump in 13 goals in those games playing shorthanded has been extremely welcoming.”

In the other Eastern Conference games involving teams Brandon is chasing, the sixth-place Saskatoon Blades beat the visiting third-place Calgary Hitmen 6-3 while the second-place Prince Albert Raiders beat the visiting eighth-place Swift Current Broncos 6-1.

ICINGS: Nolan Flamand had three assists for Brandon and Johnson had two … Moose Jaw called up 15-year-old defenceman Cohen Williams of Cawston, B.C., for his WHL debut … Nguyen and Michels led the Wheat Kings with five shots each on net … The game took two hours, 22 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 32-28 … The Wheat Kings travel to meet the Saskatoon Blades on Sunday afternoon at 4:30, and then host the Prince Albert Raiders on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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