WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Nychuk, Kruger Power BWK to Win in Medicine Hat

February 17, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Medicine Hat, AB - Chad Nychuk scored twice as the Brandon Wheat Kings knocked off the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-1 on Wednesday night.

The Wheat Kings fired 41 shots on goal, but it took until the third period to break through Tiger netminder Garin Bjorklund.

"Their goalie was outstanding tonight," said Head Coach Don MacGillivray. "We had 22 scoring chances in the 2nd period alone, and he stopped them all. We were a bit frustrated, but Chad gets the ugly one on the powerplay to put us ahead and that was what we needed."

Nychuk's game-winner, and first of two on the night extends his point-streak to eight games, the longest by a Wheat King since Kale Clague's eight-game streak in the 2017-18 season.

Ethan Kruger picked up his 17th win of the season, turning in a 24 save performance. In the third, his highlight-reel glove save on Teague Patton immediately led to Nate Danielson scoring at the other end to put the Wheat Kings up by a pair.

"We competed hard tonight," added MacGillivray. "We won a lot of puck battles, created some opportunities, some breakaways and we had some grade 'A' chances as a result of our work ethic. This was a greasy game tonight, with lots of emotion."

Ridly Greig, who was the hero in Swift Current on Tuesday night, recorded his 100th career WHL assist on Nychuk's powerplay marker. His 100th assist came in his 174th game as a Wheat King.

Brandon's win moves them to within three points of the Saskatoon Blades for 5th place in the Eastern Conference.

This four-game road trip will continue on Friday in Lethbridge before wrapping up on Saturday with a return trip to Swift Current.

"We're playing desperate teams this week," said MacGillivray. "This isn't an easy road trip for us, every opponent is scrapping for points and playoff spots. We've put some points in the bank here in the last couple of months, but we want to keep playing this competitive style of hockey moving forward."

Fans can catch Friday's game on Bounce 96.1 and the iHeartRadio app starting with the pre-game show at 7:45 MB time.

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 17, 2022


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