Baumuller shines in Wheat Kings win over Pats

It’s been a good stretch of hockey for Joby Baumuller but the Wheat Kings know the Wilcox-born forward still has another gear to find. He found it in Regina.

Baumuller scored twice and added an assist, and Ethan Eskit made 25 saves as the Wheat Kings took a 5-2 win over the Pats. Caleb Hadland, Carter Klippenstein, and Matteo Michels also scored in the win.

“I thought overall it was a really good effort,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “There was a little stretch leading up to their second goal where I thought we got a little too cute with the puck, tried to get a little too fancy and it came back to bite us. But we dug in. We were really good for 48 minutes, had a little lull there, and then we were able to cap it off with a couple of empty netters.”

In the dying seconds of a power play, the Wheat Kings put their passing skills on display on a play Baumuller both started and finished. He broke in with speed, left the puck for Charlie Elick, who sent it over to Michels, and Michels sent it back to Baumuller who one-timed home the opening goal.

The Pats answered on a power play of their own. After a shot from the line bounced off a couple of players, it sat down neatly for Tye Spencer, and the Pats leading scorer made his opportunity count to tie the score.

After some circus saves by Kelton Pyne, the Wheat Kings refused to quit and finally broke through the Pats goaltender. Hadland found a rebound of his own shot out of a scramble as Baumuller drove the net, and bounced it off the post, off Pyne’s skate, and in.

Another net drive got another good result for the Wheat Kings as Michels accelerated into the zone, carried into the near corner, and fed it out front to a waiting Klippenstein for the tap in and the 3-1 lead.

Refusing to quit, Regina pressed back late in the third and got back within one as Logan Peskett stuffed home the rebound of a shot from the point. But no sooner had the Pats pulled the goalie than the Wheat Kings made them pay, with Baumuller firing home a dagger from the right side of his own zone.

Again the Pats pulled Pyne, and again the Wheat Kings made them pay, this time with Michels picking up a rolling puck at the red line and sending it right into the gaping net. The Wheat Kings secured the win, their third in a row, by a 5-2 score.

It’s right back to work tomorrow for the Wheat Kings as they host the Prince Albert Raiders. Puck drop is 7:00.