The Kelowna Rockets benefitted and the Saskatoon Blades lost out a bit when the literal translation of a hockey rule was applied Saturday night at SaskTel Centre.
With Bridge City Bunch defenceman Scott Walford injured and bleeding, after catching the blade of Kelowna forward Nolan Foote’s stick on the follow-through of a shot attempt, the Rockets scored the tying goal late in the third period…then notched the only shootout goal for a 4-3 triumph before 4,215 “Girls Rock Night” fans. The fifth and sixth paragraphs of Rule 8.1, dealing with Injured Players, reads…
“When a player is injured so that he cannot continue play or go to his bench, the play shall not be stopped until the injured player’s team has secured possession of the puck. If the player’s team is in possession of the puck at the time of injury, play shall be stopped immediately unless his team is in a scoring position.
In the case where it is obvious that a player has sustained a serious injury, the Referee and/or Linesman may stop the play immediately.”
Trevor Wong’s goal with 2:52 remaining in regulation time tied the score as referees Kyle Kowalski and Trevor Peluk allowed play to continue while Walford bled profusely from his face. Saskatoon head coach Mitch Love said the cut required about five stitches to close. Ethan Ernst scored the lone shootout goal as Kelowna improved to 7-0-1 in their last eight games and have won the first two games of their six-game East Division road trip.
Zach Huber, Colton Dach and Tristen Robins tallied for the 14-13-3 Blue and Gold in their first home game since the completion of their season-longest seven-game road trip. The Blades host Medicine Hat Tuesday. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Kelowna Rockets 4 (SO) at Saskatoon Blades 3 – Status: Final SO
Saturday, December 7, 2019 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Kelowna 0 2 1 0 – 4
Saskatoon 0 3 0 0 – 3
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Steffler Kel (holding), 2:00.
2nd Period-1, Kelowna, Farren 4 (Liwiski), 1:12. 2, Saskatoon, Huber 9 (Toman, Kneen), 7:20. 3, Saskatoon, Dach 1 (Schmidt), 12:01. 4, Kelowna, Foote 15 (Korczak, Lee), 14:11. 5, Saskatoon, Robins 10 (Florchuk), 18:15. Penalties-Wedman Kel (boarding), 5:18; Florchuk Sas (tripping), 8:59; Kaddoura Sas (checking from behind), 15:32.
3rd Period-6, Kelowna, Wong 3 (Foote, Korczak), 17:08. Penalties-Florchuk Sas (tripping), 0:52; Liwiski Kel (major-fighting), 3:52; McKay Sas (major-fighting), 3:52; Korczak Kel (roughing), 7:45; Dach Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd., roughing), 7:45; Lee Kel (interference), 13:24; Huber Sas (embellishment), 13:24; Wedman Kel (unsportsmanlike cnd., major-fighting), 17:56; Kneen Sas (interference, major-fighting), 17:56.
OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
Shootout – Kelowna 1 (Ernst G, Foote NG), Saskatoon 0 (Crnkovic NG, McKay NG, Robins NG).
Shots on Goal-Kelowna 8-11-5-2-1-27. Saskatoon 10-16-1-1-0-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Kelowna 0 / 4; Saskatoon 0 / 2.
Goalies-Kelowna, Schwebius 4-3-0-0 (28 shots-25 saves). Saskatoon, Maier 11-10-1-2 (26 shots-23 saves).
A-4,215
Referees-Kyle Kowalski (15), Trevor Peluk (79).
Linesmen-Tanner McGregor (55), Aiden Penner (109).
