Compared to Game 1 Friday night, the Saskatoon Blades were better while Moose Jaw wasn’t as good, but that didn’t change the end result as the Warriors won 5-3 Saturday to grab a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final.
The series switches cities and venues from Moose Jaw and Mosaic Place to Saskatoon and SaskTel Centre for Games 3 and 4 Tuesday and Wednesday. In Game 2 Saturday, Nolan Maier held the fort in the first period, stopping 15 shots, nine of them on three power play chances, to keep the contest scoreless. However, 20 seconds into the second period, with the Bridge City Bunch on their first man-advantage opportunity, Brayden Yager scored short-handed. To the Blue and Gold’s credit, they kept battling and broke through…and actually took their first lead of the series when Brandon Lisowsky (pictured) and Vaughn Watterodt scored 1:53 apart. But, the lead only lasted 2:14 when Yager and Lucas Brenton tallied 89 seconds apart to give the Warriors the scoreboard advantage back…something they would hold on to in front of 3,290 fans…with Brenton’s goal, on his 19th birthday, coming with 4.7 seconds left in the middle frame. Lisowsky added a second goal with 45.7 seconds left in the third period, and Maier on the bench for an extra attacker, but that was sandwiched by Moose Jaw goals from Riley Niven and Calder Anderson…the latter tally into the empty Blades’ cage. Saskatoon was out-shot 38-31, but killed off six Warriors power play chances while getting only two man advantage opportunities of their own. Following is the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L and the Post-Game Show interview with head coach Brennan Sonne…..
Saskatoon Blades 3 at Moose Jaw Warriors 5 – Status: Final
Saturday, April 23, 2022 – Mosaic Place – Moose Jaw, SK
Saskatoon 0 2 1 – 3
Moose Jaw 0 3 2 – 5
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Nolan Sas (interference), 1:55; Sidorov Sas (hooking), 9:05; Wiens Sas (boarding), 15:35; Wanner Mj (holding), 19:47.
2nd Period-1, Moose Jaw, Yager 1 (Mateychuk), 0:20 (SH). 2, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 1 (Crnkovic, Wong), 14:20. 3, Saskatoon, Watterodt 1 (Rhinehart, Wiens), 16:13. 4, Moose Jaw, Yager 2 (Mateychuk), 18:27. 5, Moose Jaw, Brenton 1 (Korczak, Yager), 19:56. Penalties-served by Lisowsky Sas (too many men), 4:08; Jordan Mj (tripping), 7:08; Lisowsky Sas (tripping), 10:51.
3rd Period-6, Moose Jaw, Niven 1 (Larson, Calvert), 13:14. 7, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 2 (Molendyk, Wiens), 19:15. 8, Moose Jaw, Anderson 1 19:39 (EN). Penalties-Lisowsky Sas (checking from behind), 14:33; Crnkovic Sas (10-minute misconduct), 19:39.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 8-13-10-31. Moose Jaw 15-14-9-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 2; Moose Jaw 0 / 6.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Maier (37 shots-33 saves). Moose Jaw, Tetachuk (31 shots-28 saves).
A-3,290
Referees-Fraser Lawrence (10), Bryce Sebastian (64).
Linesmen-Sean Dufour (50), Brent Vandermeulen (100).
