In their most complete team effort of the playoffs so far, the Saskatoon Blades doubled the Regina Pats 4-2 Friday and moved to within one win of advancing to Round 2 of the W-H-L post-season.
Going into the contest, the Bridge City Bunch had held a lead for only 14 minutes and 37 seconds out of 255:37 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final. On Friday, Vaughn Watterodt scored 3:46 into the game and led for the remaining 56 minutes and 14 seconds in taking a 3-2 advantage in the series with a chance to advance to the Eastern Conference semi-final with a victory in Regina Saturday in Game 6. Egor Sidorov (pictured) scored twice and Conner Roulette’s first goal of the playoffs was the game-winner. Only Connor Bedard’s two goals beat Ethan Chadwick in goal for the Blue and Gold out of the 22 shots he faced. Game 6 starts at 7 o’clock Saturday with CJWW’s broadcast beginning at 6:45 p.m. Should the Pats win, a Game 7 would be held Monday at 7 o’clock at SaskTel Centre. Following is the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L, the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast plus Post-Game Show chats with head coach Brennan Sonne, Sidorov and Roulette…..
Regina Pats 2 at Saskatoon Blades 4 – Status: Final
Friday, April 7, 2023 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Regina 1 0 1 – 2
Saskatoon 2 1 1 – 4
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Watterodt 2 (Hansen, Molendyk), 3:46. 2, Saskatoon, Sidorov 4 (De La Gorgendiere, Wong), 5:26 (PP). 3, Regina, Bedard 9 (Svozil, Suzdalev), 11:24 (PP). Penalties-Bateman Reg (boarding), 4:01; Roulette Sas (tripping), 10:20; Ginnell Reg (interference), 19:13.
2nd Period-4, Saskatoon, Roulette 1 (Molendyk, De La Gorgendiere), 15:52. Penalties-No Penalties
3rd Period-5, Regina, Bedard 10 (Suzdalev, Svozil), 3:09. 6, Saskatoon, Sidorov 5 (Wong), 10:46. Penalties-Lies Sas (elbowing), 14:01; Bedard Reg (roughing), 20:00; Michels Reg (slashing), 20:00; Stringer Reg (10-minute misconduct), 20:00; Watterodt Sas (roughing), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-Regina 5-10-7-22. Saskatoon 14-10-9-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Regina 1 / 2; Saskatoon 1 / 2.
Goalies-Regina, Sim (33 shots-29 saves). Saskatoon, Chadwick (22 shots-20 saves).
A-12,098
Referees-Chris Crich (20), Kyle Kowalski (15).
Linesmen-Devan Thiessen (94), Levi Schutz (110).
