BRANDON - The Edmonton Oil Kings had to go to a shootout in Brandon to defeat the Wheat Kings during Friday Western Hockey League action. The win leaves the Oil Kings (48-15-2-3) atop the Eastern Conference with 101 points.

The Oil Kings opened the scoring when Stephane Legault notched his 12th of the year at 9:07 of the first period, with assists from Mitchell Moroz and Travis Ewanyk.

That was the only offence for the first 40 minutes, despite the Oil Kings’ dominating performance in the scoreless second period, where they outshot the Wheat Kings 17-6.

Brandon pulled even at 7:28 of the third, as Nick Buonassisi got a power-play goal with assists from Nick Walters and Rene Hunter.

Moroz put the Oil Kings back in front at 14:41, with helpers from Legault and Griffin Reinhart, and Edmonton seemed to be on its way to a regulation-time win. Brandon had other ideas, however, as the Wheat Kings pulled goaltender Corbin Boes in favour of an extra attacker.

Tim McGauley provided last-minute heroics for the home team with a goal at 19:22, assisted by Eric Roy and Ryan Pulock.

Overtime solved nothing, and the game went to a shootout, where Henrik Samuelsson and Legault scored on their attempts. Oil Kings goalie Laurent Brossoit stopped both Wheat Kings shooters to seal the victory.

Edmonton outshot Brandon 46-25. Next up for the Oil Kings is an encounter with the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Saturday.