The first rush and first shot on goal of overtime was a solo dash by defenceman Charlie Wright (pictured), resulting in a 2-1 Saskatoon Blades’ victory in Brandon over the Wheat Kings Tuesday night.
The goal, just 15 seconds into the extra period, was the first time this season that the Bridge City Bunch were victorious after trailing through two periods of play. It was also the Blue and Gold’s 30th win of the season, their first back-to-back victories since the beginning of the post-Christmas schedule and the sixth time this season that the Blades have won in the five-minute overtime period. Despite out-shooting the Wheaties 15-4 in the first period, Saskatoon fell behind in the first period of the second frame on Rylen Roersma’s rebound shot. The score stayed that way until Brandon Lisowsky buried a rebound on a power play with 7:43 left in the third period. That set the stage for Wright’s heroics. The Bridge City Bunch improved to 30-11-4 for the season, out-shooting 19-21-6 Brandon 33-21. It was the fourth straight game that an opposition goalie was either the first or second star of the game, but the Blue and Gold were able to get just enough pucks past top-ranked North American prospect goaltender Carson Bjarnason for the win. The Blades return to action for their final game in Manitoba Wednesday when they visit the Winnipeg ICE. Game time is 7 o’clock with CJWW’s broadcast at 6:45 p.m. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L, the audio highlights and head coach Brennan Sonne’s post-game interview…..
Saskatoon Blades 2 (OT) at Brandon Wheat Kings 1 – Status: Final OT
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 – Westoba Place – Brandon, MB
Saskatoon 0 0 1 1 – 2
Brandon 0 1 0 0 – 1
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-1, Brandon, Roersma 12 (Pasternak, Mantei), 0:56. Penalties-Mantei Bdn (checking to the head), 2:30; Wong Sas (delay of game), 6:19; Henry Bdn (interference), 9:29; Anderson Bdn (roughing), 14:39.
3rd Period-2, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 25 (Sidorov, Wong), 12:17 (PP). Penalties-Roersma Bdn (face off violation), 6:19; Hansen Sas (inter. on goaltender), 7:46; Ritchie Bdn (slashing), 11:28; Ritchie Bdn (tripping), 15:02; served by Lisowsky Sas (too many men), 17:34.
OT Period-3, Saskatoon, Wright 3 (Wong), 0:15. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 14-7-11-1-33. Brandon 5-11-5-0-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 1 / 6; Brandon 0 / 3.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Elliott 16-5-2-0 (0 shots-0 saves). Brandon, Bjarnason 17-14-2-0 (0 shots-0 saves).
A-2,526
Referees-Mike Campbell (89), Ben Croker (81).
Linesmen-Layne Richardson (158), Josh Miko (128).
