2nd Period Outburst Lifts Broncos past Brandon

Richard Nejezchleb scored twice for Brandon on Tuesday

  The Brandon Wheat Kings’ November slide continued Tuesday night with a 5-3 loss to the Swift Current Broncos.

  Levi Bews scored twice and Ryon Moser had a goal and two assists as the Broncos broke a three-game losing streak and handed Brandon their third straight loss and seventh in their last eight games.

  The tide of the game turned in the second period when Swift Current scored three times in a span of five minutes and eight seconds to turn a 1-1 game into a 4-1 contest.

  “We just have to be able to react,” said Brandon coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk on CKLQ’s post-game show, “He got to be able to have that next shift up where we have to be able to react and want to be able to put the puck back in their net and we’re just not being able to do that.”

  The ‘snowball affect’ is something that has affected the Wheat Kings for much of the season where the club has several things go wrong, most often goals against, in a short period of time that dramatically turns the tide of a game.

  Other recent examples include the goals six seconds apart in Prince Albert on Saturday are falling behind by multiple goals early like their home contest against the Raiders last Friday or in back-to-back against the Kootenay Ice earlier this month.

  “We talked about it after they scored their second goal that we needed a bump-up shift here to just turn the tide, and we weren’t ready and before you know it, that game’s out of hand,” said Gylywoychuk, “I just still think that the belief deflated out of us there. I think, in the third period, if we would have found another one (goal) we would have been okay.”

  Richard Nejezchleb scored twice in a losing cause for Brandon while Alessio Bertaggia had a goal and two assists in his return to the Wheat Kings’ lineup after missing three games with a lower body injury.

  There’s no doubt that Brandon is reeling right now and will host Swift Current Wednesday night (7:05 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place) as they try to right the ship.

  “The guys are getting frustrated, and I think everybody is, but you can’t let frustration settle in...frustration takes over very quickly,” said Gylywoychuk, “The biggest things we trying to stress is that we got into this as a group, we dug ourselves the hole we’re in now and we’ve got to get out of it.  We have to stick together as a team and we have to take one step at a time.”

  Tuesday’s loss leaves Brandon with a 10-14-2-1 record and sitting in 11^th-place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference standings.

  Medicine Hat is 10^th with 24 points while Swift Current, Saskatoon, Regina and Moose Jaw are all tied for sixth-place with 25 points apiece.

  Brandon didn’t get any help on the out-of-town scoreboard Tuesday with Saskatoon and Moose Jaw also picking up victories.

 

Chaff...F Tim McGauley left Tuesday's game in the second period because of an injury and did not return...Wheat Kings have surrendered the most goals against in the WHL (110 in 27 games) and are on pace to surrender 293 goals this season, which would be the most the club has given up in a single season since 1991-92...Brandon has been outshot for ten straight periods, and have registered just 66 shots on goal in their last three games...Hockey Canada will announce its roster for the Canadian Junior Team Selection Camp on Monday, with Wheat Kings’ defenceman Ryan Pulock a candidate to receive an invitation.