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| Rihards Bukarts scored his sixth goal of the season Tuesday in Swift Current |
Rihards Bukarts and Tim McGauley scored in regulation for the Wheat Kings with Peter Quenneville netting the only goal of the shootout.
It was a justifiable result for the Wheat Kings, who outshot the Broncos 49-27 including a 15-5 margin in a scoreless third period.
“It was real good effort by our team, and I thought our work ethic was exceptional. We were really able to sustain it because we had everybody on board and the line that was on the ice fed off the one that was coming off,” said Brandon GM/Coach Kelly McCrimmon on CKLQ’s post-game show, “It took 65 minutes and a shootout to get the second point and the point is important for all the obvious reasons but to see our guys rewarded for playing that hard was really nice as well.”
Eetu Laurikainen stopped 47 shots in the Swift Current goal and was named the game’s first star for his efforts while Glenn Gawdin and Colby Cave scored the Broncos’ goals.
Brandon did an outstanding job in moving the puck quickly out of their own end and McCrimmon gave a lot of credit to the defence core in making that happen.
“Our defence moved the puck great tonight. Maybe not as good in the first (period), we had a little more trouble, but in the second and third period, I think they just did a great job of getting the puck moving,” said McCrimmon, “We weren’t playing defensive zone coverage and, because of that, we had time of play offence.”
McCrimmon also felt newcomer Ryan Pilon made a positive impact in his Wheat Kings’ debut.
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| Ryan Pilon made his Wheat Kings' debut on Tuesday |
“Exceptional first game for him, just unbelievable poise with the puck, made a lot of really good plays.”
Jordan Papirny made 25 saves in the Brandon net and also stopped Cave, Dillon Heatherington and Connor Sanvido in the shootout.
Papirny wasn’t busy in the third period but made his best stop of the night in the final frame, stopping Graham Black on a 2-on-1 opportunity with about five minutes remaining in regulation.
The victory was not only Brandon’s fourth straight, it was also the club’s fourth straight road victory.
“You have to keep the game close, you have to be responsible and you have to avoid the inconsistencies and the lulls that we saw in our game early on,” said McCrimmon, “Really, I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”
Brandon will continue their road trip Wednesday night when they visit the Medicine Hat Tigers (7:30 p.m., 880 CKLQ).
Chaff...Ryan Pilon was pointless with an even plus/minus rating in his Brandon debut Tuesday...Tim McGauley extended his point-scoring streak to five games Tuesday while Ryan Pulock (five games) and Richard Nejezchleb (four games) both saw point-scoring streaks snapped in Swift Current...with fellow netminder Curtis Honey (upper body) still out, Jordan Papirny started his eighth straight game for Brandon Tuesday. Papirny is now 6-2-0 in that stretch with a 2.85 GAA and .907 SPCT.
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