by Matthew Tanner (Resident Bruins Expert)
The Chilliwack Bruins got tallies from six different goal scorers in a 6-3 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings Saturday night at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack, improving to 6-4 on the season. Bruins defenseman Jesse Pauls opened the scoring, thrilling his hometown crowd with a power-play marker, his first goal of the season. Buffalo Sabres third-round draft pick Kevin Sundher also ended his goalless drought. Bruins forward Roman Horak was named the first star in the game after an impressive night, notching three assists. The loss was the ninth straight for the struggling Wheat Kings.
The Bruins are the kings of striking first this year. Every game so far this season, which is ten games old, the Bruins have scored before their opposition. This was the case Saturday night, as the Bruins scored just 5:43 into the first period. The ability to score quickly in the game is a huge advantage and can catch the opposition off-guard. The Bruins have also been highly efficient on the power-play. They went three for five on the power play Saturday night. This puts it at 15 for 49 overall, good for 30.6 per cent. This makes the Chilliwack Bruins man-advantage the top ranked power play in the WHL.
The Bruins now hit the road for the next four games, and the road leads east. The Bruins will be in Edmonton to face the Oil Kings on Wednesday, followed by games against the Calgary Hitmen, Medicine Hat Tigers and ending with a game against the Kootenay Ice. The Bruins return to home ice on November fifth where they host the Everett Silvertips.
In other news, Chilliwack Bruins sniper Ryan Howse has been named to Team WHL for game six of the Canada-Russia Super Series. The game will take place in Prince George on November 18. Ryan Howse was named to Team WHL after scoring 14 goals and four assists in 10 games for the Bruins. Howse is the second Chilliwack Bruins player to take part in the Super Series, the first being Nashville Predators draft-pick Mark Santorelli. The series takes place each year with Team Russia playing two games against each of the three CHL leagues, the QMJHL, OHL and the WHL. The series is regarded as a primer to the World Junior Hockey Championships and is used to help select who will make Team Canada and Team Russia. Ryan Howse attended Team Canada’s summer training camp and is looking like he may be a lock to make the team. The Championships are being held in Buffalo, New York this year, where Team Canada is vying for their thirteenth straight medal and is looking to exact revenge for its loss in the gold medal game in last year’s tournament against Team U.S.A.
The Bruins are still without forward Dylen Mckinlay, who is considered week-to-week with a knee injury suffered in a collision during a game on October 15 against the Kelowna Rockets. Rockets Defenseman Mitchell Chapman was ejected from the game after being given a five minute major penalty for kneeing.
