The Saskatoon Blades finished off a long run of away games by equaling their season high for goals in a game and handed the Winnipeg ICE their first home-ice loss in regulation time by a 6-2 score.
Goaltending was the difference Saturday night as Bridge City Bunch veteran Nolan Maier stopped all 13 shots he faced in the first period while Kyle Crnkovic opened the scoring on the power play on one of just two Blue and Gold shots on Gage Alexander in the opening frame. In the second, the Blades scored five times on 12 shots, chasing Alexander in the process, as Saskatoon finished nine consecutive road games with a 3-6-0 record and improved to 13-10-1 overall. In the process, the Bridge City Bunch ended a three-game losing streak, ended a five-game winless skid head-to-head against the ICE and won for the first time at the Wayne Fleming Arena in six tries since the franchise moved to Winnipeg from Cranbrook, B-C. Crnkovic and Brandon Lisowsky (pictured) paced the Blue and Gold offence with two goals each while Brendan Lee and Misha Volotovskii added singles. For 16-year-old rookie Volotovskii, his goal was the first of his W-H-L career. Maier lost his shutout bid just before the mid-point of the third period and ended up stopping 34 of 36 shots while the Blades scored their six goals on only 18 shots. Saskatoon returns home to host Calgary Friday in their first home game in 31 days. Following is Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show interview with head coach Brennan Sonne, along with the game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Saskatoon Blades 6 at Winnipeg ICE 2 – Status: Final
Saturday, December 4, 2021 – Wayne Fleming Arena – Winnipeg, MB
Saskatoon 1 5 0 – 6
Winnipeg 0 0 2 – 2
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Crnkovic 14 (De La Gorgendiere, Wong), 16:32 (PP). Penalties-Edwards Wpg (slashing), 11:10; Friesen Wpg (charging), 15:23; Milne Wpg (high sticking, high sticking), 17:54.
2nd Period-2, Saskatoon, Lee 4 (Rhinehart), 6:12. 3, Saskatoon, Crnkovic 15 (Rhinehart, Molendyk), 8:49. 4, Saskatoon, Volotovskii 1 (Parr, Bocharov), 9:39. 5, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 11 (Robins), 15:36. 6, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 12 18:30. Penalties-Lisowsky Sas (too many men), 1:25; McClennon Wpg (tripping), 1:45; Schneider Sas (holding), 11:19.
3rd Period-7, Winnipeg, Friesen 1 (Bertholet, Edwards), 9:56. 8, Winnipeg, Savoie 14 18:02. Penalties-Rhinehart Sas (interference), 0:25.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 2-12-4-18. Winnipeg 13-11-12-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 1 / 5; Winnipeg 0 / 3.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Maier 11-8-1-0 (36 shots-34 saves). Winnipeg, Alexander 12-2-0-0 (7 shots-4 saves); Hauser 10-0-1-0 (11 shots-8 saves).
A-1,621
Referees-Kyle Kowalski (15), Corey Koop (53).
Linesmen-Darrell Surminski (37), Kelsey Mahoney (138).
