The Saskatoon Blades continued their march towards finishing in first place in all ways possible in the 2023-24 W-H-L season, but they needed overtime Friday to record a 1-0 victory in Lethbridge.
Tanner Molendyk finally broke through Brady Smith in the Hurricanes’ goal, scoring on the Bridge City Bunch’s 34th shot on goal at 3:26 of the fourth period while Evan Gardner (pictured) made 16 saves for his third shutout of the season and the fifth time the Blue and Gold have blanked an opponent this season. The result gave the Blades nine straight victories and earned them their 40th win overall, the first W-H-L team to reach that mark. Saskatoon has a double-digit points lead in the chase for first place in the East Division, Eastern Conference and overall league standings. The Bridge City Bunch visit the Central Division-leading Tigers in Medicine Hat Saturday night. Game time is 8 o’clock with CJWW’s broadcast beginning at 7:45 p.m. with the Palliser Rooms E-Q-3 Cutting Edge Pre-Game Show. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show interview with H-C Brennan Sonne and the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Saskatoon Blades 1 (OT) at Lethbridge Hurricanes 0 – Status: Final OT
Friday, February 16, 2024 – Enmax Centre – Lethbridge, AB
Saskatoon 0 0 0 1 – 1
Lethbridge 0 0 0 0 – 0
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-served by Sidorov Sas (too many men), 6:52; Sidorov Sas (inter. on goaltender), 12:52.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Tschigerl Let (hooking), 7:36; Wong Sas (10-minute misconduct), 11:30; Pakkala Let (holding), 11:30.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Edwards Let (hooking), 10:05.
OT Period-1, Saskatoon, Molendyk 8 (Lisowsky), 3:26. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 10-9-11-4-34. Lethbridge 6-7-3-0-16.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 3; Lethbridge 0 / 2.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Gardner 16-5-0-2 (16 shots-16 saves). Lethbridge, Smith 2-6-1-0 (34 shots-33 saves).
A-4,620
Referees-Brian MacDonald (7), Jesse Wood-Schatz (21).
Linesmen-Logan Parsons (140).
