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WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Raiders Bounce Back to Beat Wheat Kings 4-2

March 8, 2020 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


After beating the Prince Albert Raiders the night before in overtime, the Wheat Kings were unable to repeat on Saturday losing 4-2 to the Raiders in Brandon at Westoba Place.

The Wheat Kings drew first blood late in the first period at the 15:58 mark when Luka Burzan shot it low off Raiders' goaltender Max Paddock's pads and Ben McCartney buried his 25th goal of the season off the rebound.

The Raiders responded just under two minutes later when Alexai Protas had the puck on his stick on an odd man rush and his intended pass caromed off a Wheat Kings defender and past Brandon goalie, Jiri Patera.

The scoring continued early in the second when only 48 seconds into the period, Brayden Watts turned on a loose puck near the hashmarks and rifled it over the shoulder of Patera. It took the Wheat Kings until 13:24 in the second period to tie it up on a gorgeous tic-tac-toe play ending with Reid Perepeluk finishing at the side of the net for his 6th goal of the season and his third point in 6 games.

Unfortunately for the Wheat Kings, before the public address could announce the goal the Raiders had the puck back in Brandon's end and Ozzy Weisblatt got one past Patera to send the Raiders back up by one.

The third period featured a lot of skating and a lot less shooting with very few stoppages in play. The Wheat Kings applied pressure but couldn't get enough chances with Paddock out of position and the only goal scored was with 3:25 left in the game by the Raiders' Brayden Watts for his second of the game.

Paddock stopped 20 of 22 shots for the Raiders, Patera turned aside 26 of 30 for the Wheat Kings. Saturday's game concludes what has been an entertaining duel between Paddock and Patera, two goaltenders who have been important pieces to their respective teams during their time in the WHL. Paddock spent the bulk of his WHL career playing for another East Division team, the Regina Pats, before getting traded to the Raiders at this season's trade deadline. This season Patera is ranked seventh in the WHL for save percentages with a 2.51, Paddock 10th with 2.66.

Saturday marks the final game of the season between the Raiders and Wheat Kings, two clubs who currently sit first and second in the Western Hockey League's East Division standings, respectively. Prince Albert has gotten the better of Brandon in their season series with four wins, a regulation loss and an overtime loss. The five points the Raiders have now taken from the Wheat Kings means that should there be a tie at season's end, Prince Albert has the season series points to win the division.

The Wheat Kings are back in action on Friday, March 13th when they host the Regina Pats at home followed by the Saskatoon Blades at home the following night. Tickets to next weekend's games can be ordered online by going to www.keystonecentre.com/tickets, calling the box office at (204) 726-3555 or by visiting the box office in person.

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