In this photo: Deven Sideroff nearly scores his fourth goal of the game but is stymied by the pad of Wheat Kings goaltender Logan Thompson, who made 29 saves on 34 shots.
The Kamloops Blazers and the Brandon Wheat Kings didn’t disappoint on Friday, Oct. 24, in what many expected to be a high-scoring bout.
The Wheat Kings left Interior Savings Centre with an 8-5 win, becoming the Western Hockey League’s highest-scoring club in the process.
Brandon improved to 10-2-1-0, while Kamloops fell to 8-6-1-0.
The Blazers took the lead in the first period, just a minute into the game, when Deven Sideroff potted his sixth goal of the season and made the game 1-0. Brandon picked up goals from Tim McGauley and Jesse Gabrielle, but Sideroff and Luke Harrison added another pair of goals to give the Blazers a 3-2 lead heading into the break.
In the second, the wheels started to come off for Kamloops, as Brandon scored three goals in just over three minutes. Brandon’s leading goal scorer Rihards Bukarts, Reid Duke and Ivan Provorov scored in the final five minutes of the second and chased starting goalie Cole Kehler from the game. Connor Ingram came into the game in relief.
Ryan Rehill scored a goal to open the third period, bringing the score to 5-4, but Brandon answered with markers from Jayce Hawryluk and John Quenneville. Sideroff added his third goal of the game to make it 7-5, but Brandon sealed the game with an empty netter.
Cole Ully had four assists on the night, maintaining his tenuous grip on the WHL’s scoring lead with 26 points, including nine goals. Matt Needham had three assists and Josh Connolly a pair.
Kehler stopped 18 of 23 shots in a little more than 35 minutes of work and Ingram made 14 saves on 16 shots in relief.
The Wheat Kings outshot the Blazers 40-34 and were 1-for-2 on the power play. Kamloops was 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
Up next for the Blazers is a road game against the Tri-City Americans (8-6-0-0) tonight (Oct. 25).
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