It was the biggest, pinkest crowd the Kootenay Ice have played for all season.
A season-high 3,474 fans packed into Western Financial Place on Saturday for ‘Pink the Rink’ night and were fortunate enough to witness their team beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 3-2.
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The second of a back-to-back with the Manitoban club in Cranbrook, it was a tighter match than Friday, but the overall result was the same.
“I think it was a good all-round effort,” said Ice head coach James Patrick after the game. “Back-to-backs are hard [because] usually, the team that wins the first lets up a little bit and the team that loses the first game is as desperate as can be.
“I thought we stayed with the game plan, played really well in the neutral zone and made it tough for them.”
Peyton Krebs was the hero of the night, a game in which the Ice wore special pink-trimmed uniforms in support of anti-bullying awareness. Just a day removed from his 17th birthday, the young star said that the crowd gave the entire team a huge boost.
“Every game in Cranbrook has been getting better and better [and] I think as long as that’s happening, they’re going to get a lot better games,” Krebs said. “The crowd support gets the boys fired up… [it] definitely helps us get a few more wins here and get going for the final stretch.”
With a crowd made up largely of school children, the young Kootenay squad showed off their maturity in the game’s opening period.
Being met with a very desperate Brandon team, looking to avoid an eighth straight loss, the Ice stayed defensively sharp and received a solid opening 20 minutes from goalie Matt Berlin. The recently acquired 19-year-old stopped eight shots, while his team put up 11 of their own.
The last one of the period was the only shot that went in. Finding himself with a rebounded puck in the crease, Krebs tapped in his first of the night with 30 seconds left in the frame. Colton Kroeker and Colton Veloso drew assists, putting the Ice up 1-0 going into the intermission.
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Continuing to play solid hockey in the second, the Ice managed to grab a two-goal lead just past the midway mark after Cam Hausinger was set up at the side of the net by Brett Davis, and beat Dylan Thompson.
Ten seconds later, the Wheat Kings cut the lead in half as former first overall Bantam Draft pick Stelios Mattheos managed to beat Berlin with a nice shot off the rush.
Luckily for Kootenay, Krebs — a more recent first-overall pick — had a knack for scoring late in the period on Saturday night. Getting net front presence and having a puck bounce off him while he was turned around, Krebs added his second of the night and third of the weekend.
“[That goal] was [created] just by getting it up top like James says [to do] and working at the net,” Krebs said. “[I got] a good bounce and it went in the net.”
The marker ended up being the game-winner, but it did not stop the finish from being dramatic. Around six minutes into the third period, Luka Burzan put a goal in off a two-on-one odd man rush, which forced the Ice to have to protect a one-goal lead until the final buzzer.
While Kootenay handled the Brandon pressure in stride, it almost reached a boiling point in the final minute. The Wheat Kings forced Jonathan Smart to take an interference call and gave them a power play for the last 58 seconds of the game. With their goalie pulled as well, it took a gutsy effort from the Ice to hold them off.
Although Hausinger almost gave his team some relief, two golden empty-net chances didn’t end up counting. First putting the puck in the back of the net on a play that was deemed to be offside, the winger then rolled a puck just wide of the post.
Nevertheless, the attempts were still closer than anything their opponents could produce, and they won 3-2, getting a huge ovation from their raucous crowd.
According to Patrick, while the victory may not have been the result of a full 60-minute effort, beating a team like Brandon twice is very impressive.
“I thought we could have scored two or three [times in the first period],” the coach said. “We had empty nets and we didn’t put it away. We didn’t capitalize on [all] our chances, [but] we got the one goal.
“They had a really good push [in the second]. We sagged a bit and it was disappointing giving up a goal right after scoring. They’ve got some good players [though] … [so] for us to play in that type of game, a close game right down to the wire, it was a good challenge and we passed.”
Matt Berlin was also a big factor in the win, according to Patrick, having shaken the rust off after his 5-1 Kootenay debut loss to Edmonton last weekend.
“I thought tonight was the best game of the three that he’s played, by far,” Patrick said. “We outshot them, we out chanced them, but the chances he made in the second half of the game, were huge. I think it’s really good for us and for him.”
Berlin said that it felt great to have the coaching staff’s confidence to start both of the weekend’s games.
“I didn’t get off on the greatest start [here], but it’s good to get rolling again and get my game back,” Berlin said. “I’m getting a lot more comfortable with the guys now, making some new friends and everyone is playing really well in front of me, so I appreciate it.”
A night after going 3-for-3 on the power play, the Ice went 0-for-2 on Saturday night. Only having to kill off one opposing man advantage however, it wasn’t a night decided on special teams.
With the victory, the Ice earned two points and are back at .500 in the standings. They still trail Lethbridge by a point, but are comfortably in third place in the Central Division, 13 points ahead of the Calgary Hitmen.
Following a couple days of rest, the Ice play another home game on Wednesday against the Edmonton Oil Kings. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. with three games remaining in their seven-game Cranbrook homestand.
