WHEAT KINGS GAIN WEEKEND SPLIT, NEW PERSPECTIVE
(Courtesy of Perry Pergson – Brandon Sun)
Dave Lowry hopes the Brandon Wheat Kings learned something about themselves on the weekend.
The team’s new head coach said the lesson was apparent in a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Ice in Brandon on Friday, followed by a 4-2 victory in Winnipeg on Saturday.
“The big thing is that there’s a certain way we’re going to have to play to be successful,” Lowry said. “We saw that if we don’t play that way, we’re not a very good team and when we do play and everybody is contributing, we have the opportunity to be a good team.”
What fans learned was that Manitoba’s new Western Hockey League rivalry is apparently based on ruining each other’s picnics.
After losing their home opener on Friday, the Wheat Kings spoiled the regular season return to Winnipeg after a 35-year absence.
Brandon scored early, fell behind 2-1 and then replied with three unanswered goals as they beat Winnipeg at Wayne Fleming Arena in front of a crowd of 1,621.
Brandon (1-1-0-0) received two goals from Luka Burzan, including the winner, with Ben McCartney and Lynden McCallum also sniping. Michal Teply and Brad Ginnell replied for Winnipeg (1-1-0-0).
Lowry liked the effort much better on Saturday.
“We were mostly invested in the game and I thought we played with more pace,” Lowry said. “The urgency and the compete were there tonight.”
McCartney, who would leave the game in the second period after earning a charging major, opened the scoring three minutes 31 seconds into the opening frame during a scramble on an early power play.
But Brandon quickly found itself in penalty trouble of its own — a constant theme through the pre-season and first weekend of the regular season — and Teply scored on a 5-on-3 man advantage. Three minutes later, Ginnell, whose younger brother Riley made his Wheat Kings debut on Saturday, gave Winnipeg its first lead after the Ice forced a turnover in the Brandon zone.
Burzan singlehandedly restored the Brandon lead, stripping Ice rookie Carson Lambos of the puck and scoring on a breakaway 49 seconds into the period. He sniped again four minutes later on the power play when Winnipeg coughed up the puck and Burzan went in on a three-man breakaway with McCartney and Cole Reinhardt.
Burzan converted on a pass by McCartney, who was tossed from the game
12:07 into the middle frame for a charging major after a hit on Teply.
It was the second night in a row Brandon lost one of its top players. On Friday, Ridly Greig was ejected 21 seconds into the game for a hit on Chase Hartje. Both were out of the lineup on Saturday, Greig as he waits for the length of his suspension to be announced, and Hartje due to injury.
“We’re still taking too many penalties,” Lowry said. “It’s taking a lot out of our top guys. It’s really extending their minutes.”
Winnipeg failed to capitalize on the McCartney major, however, and it looked like Brandon took a 4-2 lead in the third when Caiden Daley tipped in a shot. The apparent goal was waved off due to a high stick, but with three minutes remaining, McCallum sniped to put the game away.
If there was a small ray of sunshine in the two Brandon majors, it was how the absence of the two top-six forwards was dealt with by the Wheat Kings in the second game.
“It’s opportunity,” Lowry said. “It’s no different than injuries. I thought (on Saturday) our guys did a better job of responding to being put in those positions.”
Brandon’s Jiri Patera made 33 saves, with Winnipeg’s Dean McNabb turning aside 235 shots. Brandon went 2-for-6 on the power play, with Winnipeg scoring once in six chances.
