They may be elite squads in the W-H-L, but the Saskatoon Blades met up with the Red Deer Rebels in a “Battle of the Beat-Up Teams” Saturday at SaskTel Centre with the Bridge City Bunch prevailing by a 6-2 score.
Despite missing five regulars due to injury, the Blue and Gold iced a full line-up of 18 skaters and two goaltenders and were able to wear down short-handed Red Deer, thanks to five straight goals that turned a 1-1 tie late in the first period into a 6-1 lead early in the third frame. The Rebels only had 15 skaters available, 10 forwards and five defencemen, with four players sidelined by injury, another left behind in Red Deer because of illness and a sixth scratch was because a young man was home attending to a personal situation. Trevor Wong (pictured) paced the Blades with two goals and an assist. Egor Sidorov had a goal and two helpers, Conner Roulette had a goal and an assist while Lukas Hansen and Vaughn Watterodt also connected for Saskatoon as they snapped a four-game winless streak by improving their overall record to 26-6-3. Highly-regarded N-H-L Draft prospect Tanner Molendyk chipped two assists from the Bridge City Bunch blue-line and Austin Elliott made 27 saves for his 14th personal victory of his rookie W-H-L season. The victory also moved the Blue and Gold within a point of East Division-leading Winnipeg as well as the co-Eastern Conference-leading Rebels, now 26-8-4 for the season. The Blades open a three-game week on Wednesday when they welcome the Portland Winterhawks to Saskatoon. Following is the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L, the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast plus Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Brennan Sonne, Elliott and Wong…..
Red Deer Rebels 2 at Saskatoon Blades 6 – Status: Final
Saturday, January 7, 2023 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Red Deer 1 0 1 – 2
Saskatoon 2 3 1 – 6
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Hansen 6 13:20. 2, Red Deer, Singer 4 (Armstrong, Weir), 15:52 (PP). 3, Saskatoon, Roulette 16 (Wong), 16:21. Penalties-Formanek Rd (tripping), 0:56; Rebman Sas (hooking), 14:11.
2nd Period-4, Saskatoon, Watterodt 16 (Keller, Wright), 3:06 (PP). 5, Saskatoon, Wong 12 (Sidorov, Molendyk), 6:32. 6, Saskatoon, Sidorov 18 (Roulette, Molendyk), 14:05 (PP). Penalties-Armstrong Rd (kneeing), 1:13; served by Formanek Rd (delay of game), 3:06; Lies Sas (roughing), 7:32; De La Gorgendiere Sas (cross checking), 9:38; Isley Rd (high sticking, high sticking), 10:15; Singer Rd (major-fighting), 15:10; Calvert Sas (major-fighting), 15:10; Hansen Sas (kneeing), 17:27.
3rd Period-7, Saskatoon, Wong 13 (De La Gorgendiere, Sidorov), 5:32 (PP). 8, Red Deer, Singer 5 (Armstrong, Mayo), 14:36 (PP). Penalties-Larson Rd (interference), 0:45; Isley Rd (slashing), 4:54; Hansen Sas (interference), 7:54; Zizka Sas (checking from behind), 13:57; De La Gorgendiere Sas (holding), 17:37.
Shots on Goal-Red Deer 10-7-12-29. Saskatoon 5-19-3-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Red Deer 2 / 7; Saskatoon 3 / 7.
Goalies-Red Deer, Stoesser 13-4-0-0 (9 shots-5 saves); Wutzke 0-0-0-0 (18 shots-16 saves). Saskatoon, Elliott 14-2-2-0 (29 shots-27 saves).
A-4,351
Referees-Kyle Kowalski (15), Brian MacDonald (7).
Linesmen-Tanner McGregor (55), Andrew Sawatsky (123).
