High-flying first period propels Wheat Kings past Wild
The previous three games, the Brandon Wheat Kings hadn’t been happy with their start. Against the Wenatchee Wild, they would get what turned out to be all the offense they needed in the first period.
Joby Baumuller scored twice, and Marcus Nguyen, Nolan Flamand, and Carter Klippenstein also scored as the Wheat Kings took the 5-2 win. Carson Bjarnason was strong with 34 saves in the victory.
“The first period was really good and then the last 40 I didn’t love,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “But the first period was obviously the difference in the game.”
After a power play did not convert, the Wheat Kings got on the board at even strenght. Baumuller carried the puck into the offensive zone, drove the middle, and sent a sneaky shot through traffic that beat Brenden Gee to the blocker side.
On a couple occasions in the first period, the Wheat Kings tried the lob pass, and Flamand and Nguyen made one work. Flamand aired the puck ahead for Nguyen to skate onto, and Nguyen pulled in alone and snapped one-five hole for the 2-0 lead.
The top line went right back to work on their next shift. Nguyen fired a shot from the right wall that Nicholas Johnson got a redirection on. As the puck slipped through Gee, Flamand pounced on it to make it 3-0.
After a high hit on Luke Shipley, the Wheat Kings got a five-minute major but it turned sour on them. The Wild got a two-on-one and made it count, with Tye Spencer finishing the play on a one-timer.
In the third, the Wheat Kings answered back at even strength again. Brady Turko fed the puck to Ben Binder Nord at centre, and when he tried to split the defense, both defenders came right at him. That left Baumuller with time to pick up the loose puck and snap in his second of the game.
The Wild pulled the goaltender and leaked one through Bjarnason during an exceedingly rare 6-on-3, but the Wheat Kings would get that one right back. Matteo Michels spun the puck to centre for Klippenstein, who wrapped the game up with a shorthanded goal.
The Wheat Kings take their second straight win and get a day off before welcoming the Saskatoon Blades. Puck drop is 7:00.
