The makings of a good night went south on the Saskatoon Blades Saturday…with apparent help from the officials!
The Central Division and Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 victory over the Bridge City Bunch…claiming the season series 3-0-1 in the process.
With big brother Kirby in a suite, among 3,646 fans in attendance at SaskTel Centre, Colton Dach opened the scoring in the first period for the Blue and Gold and Evan Patrician made it 2-0 with less than five minutes remaining in the second stanza with his first goal as a Blade. However, just 22 seconds after that tally, Jalen Luypen got Edmonton on the board and gave them life…momentum they carried into the third period.
That’s when the officials came into play!
Just prior to the mid-point of the third, an Oil Kings pass back to the blue-line in the Saskatoon end appeared to come just outside the blue-line as offside, but was ruled to have stayed onside by the linesman. A few seconds later, Jake Neighbours scored the tying goal. Then, with just under five minutes remaining in regulation time, the linesmen waved off an apparent icing against Edmonton in the Bridge City Bunch end…which led a few seconds later to Carter Souch potting the winning tally.
The victory improved the Oil Kings’ record to 32-8-9 for 73 points, eight ahead of Lethbridge, while the Blue and Gold had a three-game winning streak ended, their season log at 23-19-3 for 49 points…sitting in the second wild-card playoff spot. If these standings were to hold until the end of the regular-season, Saskatoon would play Edmonton in the first round of the playoffs. But, there’s still lots of games to be played…including the Blades traveling to Regina for a late Sunday matinee. Game time is 4 o’clock for the first of six meetings this season against the Pats. The Sardinia Family Restaurant pre-game show begins at 3 p.m. on 98-COOL. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Edmonton Oil Kings 3 at Saskatoon Blades 2 – Status: Final
Saturday, January 25, 2020 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Edmonton 0 1 2 – 3
Saskatoon 1 1 0 – 2
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Dach 7 10:49. Penalties-Rhinehart Sas (tripping), 6:24; Vladimir Alistrov Edm (hooking), 15:00; Ethan Cap Edm (slashing), 17:45; Morozoff Sas (slashing), 17:45.
2nd Period-2, Saskatoon, Patrician 3 (Morozoff), 15:44. 3, Edmonton, Jalen Luypen 8 (Matthew Robertson, Jake Neighbours), 16:06. Penalties-Scott Atkinson Edm (high sticking), 1:29; Rhinehart Sas (tripping), 5:56; McKay Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 11:03; Ethan Cap Edm (holding), 12:49.
3rd Period-4, Edmonton, Jake Neighbours 16 (Riley Sawchuk, Samuel Stewart), 9:54. 5, Edmonton, Carter Souch 15 (Liam Keeler, Ethan Cap), 14:02. Penalties-Samuel Stewart Edm (cross checking), 0:16; Ethan Cap Edm (interference), 4:23; McKay Sas (interference), 10:27; Logan Dowhaniuk Edm (holding), 18:36.
Shots on Goal-Edmonton 8-14-8-30. Saskatoon 9-13-11-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Edmonton 0 / 4; Saskatoon 0 / 6.
Goalies-Edmonton, Cossa 18-3-2-1 (33 shots-31 saves). Saskatoon, MacInnes 8-5-0-0 (30 shots-27 saves).
A-3,646
Referees-Fraser Lawrence (10), Bryce Sebastian (64).
Linesmen-Aiden Penner (109), Devan Thiessen (94).
