 |
| Ryan Pulock |
Pulock had a career-high five assists including the primary assist on four of the goals as the Brandon captain helped the Wheat Kings end a four-game losing streak.
"Things haven't been going quite as well for me as of late," said Pulock on CKLQ's post-game show, "To get five points tonight was a little monkey off my back."
Pulock had just three assists and was -14 in his last 14 games before finishing Saturday's contest +3 and increasing his team-leading point total to 37.
Most importantly, the Wheat Kings were able to jump out to a 2-0 first period lead, and extend a 2-1 lead with two second period goals.
It's the first time since January 11th that Brandon had held a lead larger than a single goal.
"I think we played pretty solid with the lead," added Pulock, who notched his 100th career assist as part of his effort Saturday, "There was a little breakdown in the third period where we didn't play our best but I think we bared down, stuck with it and came through."
Special teams were also a big story for Brandon on Saturday, with the team going 2-for-4 on the power-play and scoring another goal just two seconds after a man advantage ended while the team also managed a key penalty-kill in the second period, killing off a five-minute checking-to-the-head major to defenceman Tyler Yaworski without allowing a goal.
That enabled the team to maintain a 3-1 lead.
"That penalty-kill, the five-minute major, was excellent. I don't think they really got it set up and I thought our guys did a really good job," said Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie, "Two big power-play goals for us, it's good for our guys and it's going to give us a lot of confidence."
Jayce Hawryluk scored twice for Brandon including an empty-net goal, giving the rookie a three-game goal-scoring streak and six goals in the last five games.
He also left the game in the second period with what appeared to be an ankle injury but returned for the final frame.
Marek Kalus, John Quenneville and Eric Roy also scored for Brandon while Curtis Honey had a solid 31 save performance in the Wheat Kings' net.
Brandon (19-31-2-2) remains 11 points behind eighth-place Medicine Hat in the WHL's Eastern Conference.
Next action for the Wheat Kings is Wednesday when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7:05 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place).
Chaff...Yaworski's checking-to-the-head major will automatically be reviewed by the Western Hockey League office for a possible suspension. Yaworski was suspended for three games earlier this season for a checking-to-the-head major he got in a game in Vancouver on October 24th...Saturday's attendance was 3,656, pushing Brandon's season average down to 3,797. That's down 344 fans from last year's average of 4,141...former Wheat King Michael Ferland celebrated his 200th career WHL game Saturday by scoring a hat-trick in Saskatoon's 4-1 victory over Swift Current.
.jpg)
.jpg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment