Pair Of Breakdowns Cost Wheat Kings Pair Of Points Against Raiders
A late goal seemed to give the Brandon Wheat Kings a massive boost against the Prince Albert Raiders on home ice. That rush quickly turned sour, however, as two bad choices defensively cost the Wheat Kings two points.
Carter Klippenstein scored, and Carson Bjarnason made 27 saves, but two goals in the final 2:12 saw the vital two points in the standings slip away.
“There’s 3:50 when we score there, the job has got to get done,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “If you’re on the ice at that point of the game, you’ve got to grit your teeth, dig your feet in and get the job done. We made a bad standup in the neutral zone that created a two-on-one, stuff we talk about all the time, and we didn’t have awareness.”
An early power play for the Raiders did nothing for them on the scoresheet, but seemed to build momentum and they had the better of play for much of the period from there. Still, thanks to Bjarnason, the Wheat Kings got out of the first period without surrendering anything on the scoreboard.
It was the Wheat Kings’ turn to have the better of play in the second period, outshooting the Raiders 9-4, but the result was once again no scoring either way. The Wheat Kings hit a post on the power play, but that was as close as anyone came to breaking the seal.
The third period was more of the same through the first 13 minutes, though both teams pressed. The Wheat Kings got their fourth power play of the night, but both an early and late chance were foiled by saves and shot blocks.
Finally, Klippenstein broke through with 3:50 to go in the third. After a power play expired, He settled the puck at the top of the right circle, turned toward the net, and fired a bullet of a shot to the top corner.
But the jubilation in the crowd and on the bench was short lived. First, a bad pinch led to Ryder Ritchie breaking in alone and finishing with a nifty backhand move to tie the score. Then, off a faceoff the Wheat Kings appeared to win, the Raiders fought back, fed it out front to Krzystof Macias, and let him do the rest as he snapped it home.
The loss leaves the Wheat Kings just two points up on the Raiders in the playoff race, and gearing up to face the Saskatoon Blades tomorrow. Pucl drop is 7:00.
