Wheat Kings Fall to Raiders

Brandon, MB – The shorthanded Brandon Wheat Kings dropped a 3-1 decision to the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday night.

Keaton Sorenson scored twice and Carter Seryhenko made 24 saves as the Raiders snapped a three-game losing skid.

“Honestly at the end of the day, we can’t keep making the excuse that we are short-handed,” said Chad Nychuk. “This is the Western Hockey League. We’ve been talking about this for weeks. Guys are hurt. We get it. But this type of effort just doesn’t cut it anymore. Everyone has to be better top to bottom.”

For the second straight night, Brandon found themselves with just 10 forwards due to injury. However, Vegas Gold Knights draft pick Marcus Kallionkieli made his return to the Wheat Kings lineup for the first time since March 7th of 2020. The Finnish import ended the game -1 with one shot on goal.

Despite killing all four Raider penalties, the Wheat Kings couldn’t muster up the same type of comeback as 24 hours earlier.

“We turned pucks over in the neutral zone tonight and the attention to detail just wasn’t there,” added MacGillivray. “The Raiders were a hungry team and we knew they were going to be. We played a greasy road game last night, and needed more of that tonight and didn’t get it.”

Ethan Kruger finished the night with 25 saves while Brandon failed to capitalize on three Raider penalties.

The Wheat Kings are now 5-7-0-0 on the season and will welcome the Red Deer Rebels to the Wheat City on Friday night.