The emotions over a 10-minute time period told a wavering story, but one thing was constant…the Saskatoon Blades became the 14th W-H-L team to clinch a playoff spot!
Kyle Crnkovic (pictured) scored on a power play in overtime to give the Bridge City Bunch a 2-1 victory over the Regina Pats Friday in front of 4,478 fans at SaskTel Centre on “Suits Up for Promoting Organ Donation” Night with David Ayres amongst the crowd.
The Blue and Gold held the territorial advantage for most of the game and appeared to be on their way to a regulation time victory, thanks to a Colton Dach second period goal. But, Nolan Maier’s shutout bid was snapped with 43.5 seconds left in regulation time when he was buried underneath Regina forward Riley Krane while Logan Nijhoff scored off a rebound with the Pats’ utilizing an extra attacker and goaltender Spencer Welke on the bench. That set the stage for Crnkovic and his 18th goal of the season at 1:14 of the extra period.
The Blades, who out-shot Regina 39-33, improved their record to 32-24-5 for 69 points…still two points out of third place in the W-H-L’s East Division after Winnipeg won 4-1 in Moose Jaw Friday. In addition, with Brandon out-lasting the Raiders 3-2 in overtime in Prince Albert, the Wheat Kings moved within four points of P-A for first place in the East. The Raiders have 80 points, Brandon 76, Winnipeg 71 and Saskatoon 69. On Saturday, the three match-ups from Friday switch venues as the ICE host the Warriors, the Wheaties welcome Prince Albert and the Blades travel to Regina. The latter game will be aired on 98-COOL, beginning with the Sardinia Family Restaurant pre-game show at 6 p.m. and the play-by-play at 7. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Regina Pats 1 at Saskatoon Blades 2 (OT) – Status: Final OT
Friday, March 6, 2020 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Regina 0 0 1 0 – 1
Saskatoon 0 1 0 1 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Huber Sas (hooking), 17:12.
2nd Period-1, Saskatoon, Dach 11 16:01. Penalties-Englot Reg (hooking), 18:13; Dach Sas (interference), 18:47.
3rd Period-2, Regina, Nijhoff 16 (Evans, Wytinck), 19:16. Penalties-Englot Reg (slashing), 0:41; Robins Sas (holding), 3:45; Brook Reg (embellishment), 6:47; Dach Sas (interference), 6:47; Walker Reg (holding), 7:10.
OT Period-3, Saskatoon, Crnkovic 18 (Robins, Kneen), 1:14 (PP). Penalties-Krane Reg (tripping), 0:29.
Shots on Goal-Regina 11-13-9-0-33. Saskatoon 16-9-11-3-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Regina 0 / 3; Saskatoon 1 / 4.
Goalies-Regina, Welke 1-0-1-0 (39 shots-37 saves). Saskatoon, Maier 20-19-1-3 (33 shots-32 saves).
A-4,478
Referees-Brayden Arcand (71), Taylor Burzminski (83).
Linesmen-Andrew Sawatsky (123), Levi Schutz (110).
