Wheat Kings roll over Bedard-less Pats

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This article was published 03/01/2023 (624 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brett Hyland scored twice as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Regina Pats 6-2 in Western Hockey League action at Westoba Place on Wednesday.

Brandon (15-17-4-0) received its other goals from Trae Johnson, Logen Hammett, Tony Wilson and Jake Chiasson, with Riley Ginnell and Zach Stringer replying for Regina (18-18-1-1) in front of a crowd of 2,307.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said he thought his team was actually a little flat off the start.

“That was a big goal for Trae to get us on the board and then again penalties took us out of the flow in the first period,” Murray said. “It was something we addressed after one and I thought after we got the third one we started to play our game and executed some nice plays. It was nice to spread the scoring out.”

Brandon opened the scoring three minutes 18 seconds into the opening frame when Hammett’s pass through the middle of the slot missed Luke Shipley but went to Johnson, who fired a one-timer past the outstretched leg of Regina starting goalie Drew Sim.

Brandon nearly extended the lead with a shorthanded two-on-one a minute later when Nate Danielson dished over to Hyland, but the Edmonton product’s shot went off the glove of Sim and the crossbar.

A Brandon club that has struggled with decision making all year did its best to allow Regina back into the game, taking three minor penalties in 10 minutes but the Pats, who were playing without two world junior players, Canadian forward Connor Bedard and Czech defenceman Stanislav Szozil, were unable to beat Brandon goalie Carson Bjarnason.

The Wheat Kings took a two-goal lead late in the opening period when Hammett jumped into the play and Calder Anderson found him, with the Regina product firing home his second goal of the season.

“It was a broken play and we started to rush it up there,” Hammett said. “We had a four-on-two and Calds saw me on the weak side and the puck came over to me. I was kind of looking for a pass but didn’t see anything so I threw it on net and it went in.”

Regina had some good pressure to start the second period and responded at the 2:08 mark when the former Wheat King Ginnell was hit by a Layton Feist shot that bounced past Bjarnason.

Brandon restored the two-goal lead after Regina took its first penalty. The Wheat Kings patiently moved the puck around the top of the zone without taking a shot and then got it low at the side of the net to Hyland, who walked into the slot and fired a shot past Sim.

“We extended out lead by two there so it was an important goal,” Hyland said. “I went down to the goal-line on the power play and (Nolan Ritchie) fed it to me and I had my head up and saw there was a nice lane on the ice to the backdoor post.”

The Wheat Kings put the game away 8:33 into the third period when Wilson’s shot from the side boards surprised Sim when the netminder took a quick glance out at the slot, giving them a 4-1 lead.

Regina took a penalty 17 seconds later, and Hyland ripped a shot over Sim, with the goaltender breaking his stick in anger as he was pulled for backup Kelton Pyne.

The Pats took a roughing penalty two minutes later, and Chiasson fired a shot in off the post as the hosts scored their third power-play goal in four tries to make it 6-1.

Regina scored a late power-play goal with 4:08 left when Stringer, who missed half the season with a leg injury, capitalized on a broken play for his first of the season.

“The boys played a lot harder tonight,” Hammett said. “Last game here we had a lot of plays given up on or not hard enough so today we showed how hard we can play. We controlled the puck a lot more tonight too.”

Bjarnason made 18 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Sim and Pyne combining to stop 23 shots for the Pats.

Brandon went 3-for-4 on the power play, with Regina scoring once in five chances.

Murray was pleased with the bounce-back after a subpar 6-2 loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Murray said. “We talked about it a lot after the game on Saturday, about seeing the tenacity in our game after a dud at home. Overall I thought it was a pretty good game. There are areas we can get better at but it’s nice to close out a game on home ice.”

Regina head coach and general manager John Paddock said his club has been in a funk since the Christmas break, and while losing two top players to the world juniors certainly hasn’t helped, he’s not seeing enough from others.

“If we’re waiting for the so-called cavalry to come back, that’s not very good,” the Oak River product said. “We have a lot of guys not doing stuff that they normally do and can do. You might not get rewarded without other players in the lineup but we’re not playing like we should.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured forwards Ben Thornton (upper body, week to week), Caleb Hadland (lower body, week to week) and defencemen Andrei Malyavin (week to week, upper body) and Zach Turner (healthy scratch) … Brandonite Cole Temple, 15, made his WHL debut in his hometown for the Pats. He was the fifth-overall pick in the 2022 draft … Brandon returns to action on Friday when they host the Portland Winterhawks at 7 p.m. … Ritchie had three assists, as did Anderson, who led the Wheat Kings with four shots on net … The game took two hours 17 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 39-22 … Pats forward Jaxsin Vaughan earned a five-game suspension for his hit on Brandon’s Malyavin a week ago … Tri-City Americans forward Parker Bell has been named the WHL player of the month for December after the 19-year-old forward from Campbell River, B.C., led all skaters with 21 points on seven goals and 14 assists. Regina Pats forward Alexander Suzdalev is rookie of the month after the 18-year-old forward from Khabarovsk, Russia collected 17 points in 10 games. In net, 17-year-old Seattle Thunderbirds netminder Scott Ratzlaff of Irma, Alta., is goaltender of the month after posting an 8-0-0-1 record with a 1.54 goals-against average and .946 save percentage and two shutouts this past month.

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