WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Wheat Kings Beat Hitmen 3-1 for 8th-Straight Win

Published on January 18, 2020 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


The Brandon Wheat Kings extended their unbeaten streak to 8-straight games on Friday night against the Calgary Hitmen with a 3-1 win at Westoba Place, the longest win streak in the Western Hockey League so far this season.

From the opening faceoff the Wheat Kings showed a readiness that they've struggled to bring for some games earlier this season. Their pursuit of the puck and strong forechecking resulted in a goal from Duncan Pierce just 1:43 into the game.

"Well Calgary being where they are in the standings and us, we're trying to hunt down teams and not fall behind a bit so it's just that urge to beat them" says Pierce, who scored his 5th goal of the season Friday.

The single goal lead through the first period was maintained by Brandon with physical play and by finishing their checks, much to the ire of a Calgary team that struggled to get any sort of advantage such as an odd-man rush or breakaway over the Wheat Kings. With only 22 seconds left in the first period, rookie forward, Jake Chiasson scored what would be the eventual game winner for Brandon.

The second period will be remembered for it's rough stuff as the Wheat King's Cole Reinhardt took a vicious knee from the Hitmen's Orca Weisblatt, resulting in a two-minute minor penalty for Weisblatt. From that point on, the bad blood was palpable and later in the period with Wiesblatt on the ice, a melee broke out between both team's skaters resulting in a slew of penalty minutes for both sides.

Brandon goaltender, Jiri Patera - who has already posted three shutouts alone in the month of January - showed the same type poise on Friday turning the Hitmen away with confidence. With only 3:09 left in the game, the Hitmen were able to get a hard pass through traffic to the front of the net for Josh Prokop to tip past Patera, ending what was otherwise a spotless outing for the 20-year old Czech netminder. He stopped 30 of 31 shots on the evening.

Brandon's Neithan Salame scored an empty net goal to seal the victory for Brandon by two goals, but Calgary's goalie Brayden Peters also played exceptionally, earning himself a third star of the night turning 31 of 34 shots aside. Pierce was awarded the second star and Patera the first.

Friday night's game was the last one of a four-game homestand as they travel to Moose Jaw tomorrow to take on the Warriors. Their next action after that will be back on home ice at Westoba Place against the Victoria Royals on Friday, January 24th at 7:30 and then the following night, Saturday, January 25th against the Lethbridge Hurricanes at 7:30. You can purchase tickets in person at the Keystone Centre box office, by calling (204)726-3535 or by visiting www.keystonecentre.com/tickets.

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 18, 2020


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