Agra Risk Wheatland Kings 5, Carstar Okotoks Bisons 2 — Final
The Agra Risk Wheatland Kings jumped out to an early lead and never let it go, beating the Carstar Okotoks Bisons 5-2 on Friday night at Strathmore Family Centre Arena in a game that turned physical in the second and third periods.
Wheatland scored twice in the first period without an answer from Okotoks. Brody Stovka opened the scoring at 7:27, assisted by Jaden Prairie Chicken, and Nash Wassing added a power-play goal with under a minute left in the period, assisted by Tanner Phillips, to make it 2-0 after twenty minutes.
Okotoks got on the board in the second when Gustav Rustebakke scored at 5:44, assisted by Garrison Peck and Sam Rieger, but Wheatland answered right back through Johnny Babkirk at 12:27 to restore a two-goal cushion, 3-1, heading into the third.
Nathan Flanagan pulled Okotoks within one early in the third (8:53, assisted by Connor Chapman and Carson Christie), but the Kings pulled away for good with a shorthanded goal from Brayden Thurlow at 12:49 and an insurance goal from Tripp McArthur at 17:48 (assists: Thurlow, Adam Moore) to close it out 5-2.
The third period also turned heated: a five-minute fighting major to Gustav Rustebakke and a matching one to Johnny Babkirk both came at the 13:43 mark, adding game misconducts on top for both, part of a combined 132 penalty minutes between the two teams on the night. Okotoks out-shot Wheatland in the second and third periods (14-8 and 13-11) but couldn’t overcome Wheatland’s fast start and a 17-5 shot advantage for the Kings in the first. In goal, Connor White played the full 60 minutes for the win, stopping 30 of 32; Okotoks split the night between Shane Ford (17/20, the loss) and Carson Jerome (14/16) in relief.