Wheat Kings hit new offensive heights against Broncos
Unhappy with their effort the previous night, the Wheat Kings came into the game against the Swift Current Broncos with a bit of a chip on their shoulder. They vented some frustration on the visitors as their offense came to life.
Marcus Nguyen scored twice, and Nicholas Johnson, Caleb Hadland, Brady Turko, Nigel Boehm, and Matteo Michels added singles in a 7-3 win over Swift Current. Carson Bjarnason finished with 24 saves in the victory.
“Obviously a little bit of a sour taste in our mouths from the third period giving up three,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “But I thought our first two periods were excellent.”
It was a strong first period overall for the Wheat Kings and they got rewarded for it. Off a turnover, Dominik Petr fed the puck to Nguyen in the slot, who waited for a lane to open and, as soon as one did, sniped his team-leading 12th.
But it was the second period where the Wheat Kings exploded offensively. Nguyen started it, sent in on a partial break by Dylan Ronald. Nguyen wasted no time ripping a shot to the top corner again.
Later in the period, off a gritty offensive zone shift, Johnson found the loose puck and drove to his left. Like Nguyen before him, he found a lane and made it count, snapping home the 3-0 tally.
The Wheat Kings were just getting started. Hadland took a feed off the rush from Michels and, finding himself with time in the slot, he kept the scoring parade going with his seventh.
A good old fashioned crease crash earned the Wheat Kings their fifth goal. Carter Klippenstein sent the puck on goal on his backhand, and it deflected off Turko’s left skate and in.
Boehm’s first WHL goal was next up, and it was a beauty. Taking the puck over the line with speed, Boehm beat his man wide, wrapped the puck back out front, and slipped it through the five-hole to put the Wheat Kings up 6-0.
The Broncos reminded the Wheat Kings they were still dangerous in the third. First, at 4-on-4, Connor Gabriel stuffed home a rebound to break the shutout bid. Then, Ty Coupland snapped one home on a pretty passing play off the rush.
Immediately after a Wheat Kings’ power play, Coupland was at it again. This time, he one-timed home a cross-zone pass from the top of the left circle to put the Broncos back within three.
But the Wheat Kings put a stop to the onslaught thanks to Michels. He found the puck in a maze of bodies in front and almost calmly tucked it in to give the Wheat Kings lucky number seven on the night.
The win wraps up a lengthy homestand for the Wheat Kings, who now go on the road to Alberta. Their next game is Friday, November 29, against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
