The Saskatoon Blades performed a mirrored effort Friday night in Victoria, compared to what they did Tuesday in Prince George. In both instances, the Bridge City Bunch did enough to win, out-scoring the Royals 6-4 Friday.
After playing a pair of listless periods before coming to life with four goals in the third frame for a 5-2 victory Tuesday over the Cougars, the Blue and Gold carried over that third period into their best start of the B-C Division road trip, scoring a season-high five first period goals for a 5-0 lead after 20 minutes. After that, the Blades went back into listless mode and Victoria came alive, but couldn’t catch up as Saskatoon won their third straight game. Egor Sidorov (pictured) scored twice and added two assists for the 36-13-4 Bridge City Bunch while Trevor Wong scored a power play goal and while the Blue and Gold were short-handed to reach the 20-goal plateau. Conner Roulette also hit 20 goals, the fourth Blade to reach that mark, and chipped in a pair of helpers. Jake Chiasson opened the scoring as Saskatoon’s five-goal first period chased 19-year-old Royals’ veteran netminder Braden Holt to the bench after one period in favour of Nicholas Cristiano. After out-shooting the home side 17-8 in the first period in front of 3,337 fans, Victoria ended up out-shooting the Bridge City Bunch 35-27, 27-10 over the final 40 minutes. The Blue and Gold moved into a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with Red Deer, seven points ahead of fourth place Moose Jaw. The Blades complete their Tour of the B-C Division Saturday in Langley against the Vancouver Giants. CJWW’s broadcast begins at 8:45 with the Pre-Game Show and the play-by-play at 9 o’clock. Following is the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L, plus audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast and my Post-Game Show interview with head coach Brennan Sonne…..
Saskatoon Blades 6 at Victoria Royals 4 – Status: Final
Friday, February 17, 2023 – Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena – Victoria, BC
Saskatoon 5 1 0 – 6
Victoria 0 4 0 – 4
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Chiasson 15 (Molendyk, De La Gorgendiere), 6:17. 2, Saskatoon, Wong 19 (Wiens, Sidorov), 8:43 (PP). 3, Saskatoon, Wong 20 9:50 (SH). 4, Saskatoon, Sidorov 32 (Roulette, Gustafson), 18:48. 5, Saskatoon, Roulette 20 (Sidorov), 19:05. Penalties-Schuurman Vic (tripping), 7:41; Pillar Sas (slew-footing), 9:19; Spizawka Vic (slashing), 14:05.
2nd Period-6, Victoria, Poole 28 (Thacker), 0:44. 7, Victoria, Scott 11 (Almquist, Kipkie), 4:21. 8, Victoria, Poole 29 (Thacker, Schuurman), 14:25. 9, Saskatoon, Sidorov 33 (Roulette, Keller), 16:35. 10, Victoria, Dereniwsky 6 (Patton, Spizawka), 17:44. Penalties-De La Gorgendiere Sas (delay of game), 9:12; Lies Sas (inter. on goaltender), 18:07.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Shugrue Sas (roughing), 15:11; Dereniwsky Vic (inter. on goaltender), 15:11.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 17-6-4-27. Victoria 8-19-8-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 1 / 2; Victoria 0 / 4.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Chadwick 17-8-1-1 (35 shots-31 saves). Victoria, Holt 21-19-3-1 (17 shots-12 saves); Cristiano 4-11-0-0 (10 shots-9 saves).
A-3,337
Referees-Josh Albinati (153), Ward Pateman (124).
Linesmen-Ryan Sirk (173), Nathan Van Oosten (115).
