The Saskatoon Blades crept closer to officially clinching a W-H-L playoff spot, thanks to Tuesday’s 3-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes before 3,409 fans at SaskTel Centre.
Fraser Minten (pictured) opened the scoring and added an assist as the Bridge City Bunch reduced their “Magic Number” to qualify for the post-season in the Eastern Conference to six points. Misha Volotovskii and Easton Armstrong also tallied for the Blue and Gold as they increased five different positive streaks – most notably, six consecutive wins overall and 11 straight victories on home ice. Defenceman Grayden Siepmann chipped in two assists while only rookie Canes defenceman Will Sharpe was able to put a puck past Austin Elliott, while the Blades directed 36 drives at the Lethbridge goal – the 21st game in succession in which Saskatoon held an edge on the shot clock. One streak that came to an end, 11 consecutive games in which the Bridge City Bunch won more faceoffs than their opponent. The Blue and Gold will look to complete a sweep of their season-longest seven-game homestand Friday when they host the Prince Albert Raiders. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game Show comments from head coach Brennan Sonne, Siepmann and fellow blueliner Charlie Wright plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Lethbridge Hurricanes 1 at Saskatoon Blades 3 – Status: Final
Tuesday, February 6, 2024 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Lethbridge 0 1 0 – 1
Saskatoon 1 2 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Minten 15 (Siepmann, Wright), 14:47. Penalties-Wright Sas (tripping), 1:32.
2nd Period-2, Saskatoon, Volotovskii 7 (Siepmann, Melnyk), 4:48. 3, Lethbridge, Sharpe 3 (Edwards, Marques), 6:48. 4, Saskatoon, Armstrong 27 (Minten, Lisowsky), 14:19. Penalties-Pakkala Let (high sticking), 1:52; Gizowski Let (hooking), 8:27; Suzdalev Sas (misconduct – mouthguard), 11:20.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Volotovskii Sas (tripping), 9:52.
Shots on Goal-Lethbridge 6-6-5-17. Saskatoon 15-14-7-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Lethbridge 0 / 2; Saskatoon 0 / 2.
Goalies-Lethbridge, Meneghin 22-14-2-0 (36 shots-33 saves). Saskatoon, Elliott 23-4-2-1 (17 shots-16 saves).
A-3,409
Referees-Taylor Burzminski (83), Adam Forbes (62).
Linesmen-Marc Guitard (116), Devan Thiessen (94).
