The narrative went from, “you can’t win ’em all” on Friday to “we’re facing some adversity now” for the Saskatoon Blades following Tuesday night’s 5-0 loss to the Red Deer Rebels at SaskTel Centre.
The setback was just the third time this season that the Bridge City Bunch had lost back-to-back games, the first time the Blue and Gold had lost back-to-back games at home and the first time the Blades had been held off the scoreboard. Former Saskatoon Contacts’ Under-18 goaltender Chase Wutzke was responsible for the blank job on the Bridge City Bunch, stopping all 36 shots he faced, while Red Deer captain Kai Uchacz scored two goals and added two assists as the Rebels improved their record to 30-20-8 for the season. The shutout loss was the first time the Blue and Gold had been blanked in 424 days, dating back to December 30, 2022 in Winnipeg by a 2-0 score and it was the first time the Blades had been shutout at home since March 12, 2022, a 1-0 setback at the hands of the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. Saskatoon will attempt to erase the lack of offence vibes on Friday when they entertain the Lethbridge Hurricanes at 7 o’clock at SaskTel Centre. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Brennan Sonne and centre Fraser Minten plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Red Deer Rebels 5 at Saskatoon Blades 0 – Status: Final
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Red Deer 1 3 1 – 5
Saskatoon 0 0 0 – 0
1st Period-1, Red Deer, Formanek 18 (Uchacz), 6:40. Penalties-Gard Rd (interference), 9:17; Armstrong Sas (high sticking, high sticking), 11:15.
2nd Period-2, Red Deer, Ollie Josephson 10 (Uchacz), 9:14. 3, Red Deer, Brigley 15 (Mayo, Ollie Josephson), 13:07. 4, Red Deer, Uchacz 39 (Larson, Formanek), 18:42. Penalties-Uchacz Rd (interference), 6:52.
3rd Period-5, Red Deer, Uchacz 40 11:10. Penalties-Watterodt Sas (hooking), 0:37; Carmichael Rd (interference), 2:45; Fabrizi Rd (checking from behind), 6:07; Lind Rd (roughing), 6:07; Babcock Sas (roughing), 6:07; Parr Sas (slashing), 12:46; Uchacz Rd (slashing, 10-minute misconduct), 16:46; Sidorov Sas (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 16:46.
Shots on Goal-Red Deer 7-7-6-20. Saskatoon 13-7-16-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Red Deer 0 / 4; Saskatoon 0 / 4.
Goalies-Red Deer, Wutzke 18-8-2-2 (36 shots-36 saves). Saskatoon, Elliott 25-6-2-1 (12 shots-9 saves); Gardner 17-5-0-2 (8 shots-6 saves).
A-3,512
Referees-Ty Skene (19), Bryce Sebastian (64).
Linesmen-Ridge Brooks (161), Devan Thiessen (94).
