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Wheaties hang on to beat Raiders

Feb 17, 2018 | 11:00 PM

Brandon Wheat Kings goaltender Logan Thompson had a sterling performance on Saturday night, turning aside 39 of 42 shots faced as the Wheaties dropped the Prince Albert Raiders 4-3.

Thompson’s teammates provided him with some early goal support as the Wheat Kings were very efficient with their first period opportunities, striking three times on five shots to stake out a 3-0 lead while the Raiders put 15 shots on goal, all turned aside by the 20-year-old goaltender. 

As fans were still filing into their seats, Brandon’s leading scorer Ty Lewis found the back of the net in the opening minute to put the Wheat Kings on the board. Just over two minutes later, Marcus Sekundiak chipped a puck home to make it 2-0 on the first two shots on goal for the home side. Ty Ettinger would make it 3-0 later in the period.

“We didn’t start on time tonight. From the opening puck drop they came out quick like they usually do in their building, and we just weren’t ready to go off the hop. I thought we turned it around pretty quickly from there,” said Raiders Associate Coach Dave Manson.

After failing to score on their first 20 shots, the Raiders finally broke through in the second period as Brandonite Jordy Stallard scored his 38th of the season in what was most likely his final WHL game in his hometown. The goal came on an extended 5-on-3 situation for the Raiders that continued after the marker due to a double minor penalty against Brandon.

Just over a minute later, Raider forward Brett Leason took a backdoor feed from Max Martin and beat Thompson with another 5-on-3 goal to cut the Wheat Kings lead down to 3-2.

“Once we got things rolling I liked our game. I thought our guys shifted gears and took control of things. We played well enough to win,” said Manson.

The score would hold into the second intermission, with the Raiders holding a 31-9 edge in shots but finding themselves down by one.

With momentum on the side of the Raiders heading into the third, the Wheat Kings netted an insurance marker as Rylan Bettens stepped out of the corner to the front of the net, beating Raiders goaltender Curtis Meger to make it 4-2. That would mark the end of Meger’s night as he was replaced by Ian Scott after allowing six goals on ten shots.

“That was a tough one for us to give up. Things were going our way up to that point, but I thought that took the wind out of our sails for about five minutes. But credit to our guys, they found a way to get it going again,” said Manson.

Facing a two-goal deficit once again, the Raiders dug into the Wheat Kings’ lead as Spencer Moe knocked home a Parker Kelly rebound for his 8th of the year, making it 4-3 with 6:21 to play.

The Raiders continued to apply pressure, but were only able to get one puck past Thompson on 11 third period shots.

After the two-game split with the Wheat Kings, the Raiders will be back in action on Monday as they face the Regina Pats at the Art Hauser Centre.

 

trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden