Wheat Kings take Northstars down a couple notches

Photo by Ian Graham

Norman Northstars' captain Quentin Holmes had two goals and an assist as his team lost two games to the Brandon Wheat Kings Oct. 30-31.

The Norman Northstars came into their Halloween weekend series with the Brandon Wheat Kings second in the East Division and looking to push their record back over .500 for the first month of the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League season.

They left it tied for fourth, with a record of 5-8, as the Eastman Selects, Interlake Lightning and Kenora Thistles each won two games to leapfrog the Stars in the standings.

Quentin Holmes provided most of the offence for the Northstars in two losses to Brandon, scoring his team's only goal in the last minute Oct. 30, spoiling Wheat Kings' goaltender Ryan Thorpe's shutout bid as the Northstars were walloped 7-1. He also scored one goal and added an assist in the 4-2 loss Oct. 31.

Cole McCaig did much of the damage for Brandon on Friday, recording four points, including a hat trick, in a game that saw the Wheat Kings score five times on the power play.

Ryan Delorme stopped 36 shots in the game, keeping his team in the hunt by allowing only one goal in a first period where the Northstars were outshot 18-5. McCaig had the only goal, scoring off the rush with the man advantage seconds after the Northstars had a shorthanded chance.

The Wheat Kings' lead doubled just 43 seconds into the second period, as a giveaway in the slot went in off the foot of Taylor Wells. Matt Brykaliuk made it 3-0 when he jammed a puck past Delorme on another power play and Brandon went up by four on McCaig's second with just under four minutes left. Midway through the game, the shots were 29-6 in favour of the Wheat Kings and the period ended with Brandon holding a 34-10 advantage on the shot clock.

The Northstars had a chance to get back in the game with a 5-on-3 for the first 3:04 of the final period, but Dillon McCombie was sent to the box for slashing on a partial Brandon breakaway. Holmes had a chance in front during the 4-on-3 but redirected a pass high over the net. McCaig completed his hat trick 7:32 into the period. Mitch Van Teeling and Tanner Jago added third period goals for the Wheat Kings, who won their fifth consecutive game.

Van Teeling and Brett Cooey staked the Wheat Kings to a 2-0 lead on Halloween before Holmes got the home team on the board when he slipped a rebound past Riley Feser with 11:35 to play in the second period. Four minute later on a power play, Holmes got another by Feser, but it sat on the goal line until Dylan Hykawy jammed it to knot the score 2-2. It didn't stay that way long, as Austin Lewis scored on a Wheat Kings' power play.

Mitchell Backhouse kept the Northstars within a goal with a stop on a 2-on-1 with the Northstars shorthanded early in the third, but the Wheat Kings got an insurance goal from Jesse Linner with 8:53 left. Backhouse finished the game with 37 saves as the Northstars surrendered over 40 shots for the second consecutive game.

The Northstars' next opponents are the Yellowhead Chiefs, who come to Thompson for a pair of games Nov. 6-7, with the Saturday game at 2:30 in the afternoon to free the C.A. Nesbitt Arena for Olympic torch relay celebrations later in the evening. The Chiefs have only one win in their first 10 games.

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