The Game 2 overtime hero enjoyed it so much last Saturday that he did it again in Game 5 on Friday night, putting the Saskatoon Blades on the brink of advancing to their first W-H-L final in 30 years.
Fraser Minten (pictured) ripped a slap-shot past Dmitri Fortin at 18:15 of O-T to propel the Bridge City Bunch to a 5-4 triumph over the Moose Jaw Warriors and a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final before 11,173 fans at SaskTel Centre. Minten also tallied in extra time in Game 2 to give the Blue and Gold a split of the first two games at home. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ second round pick in the 2022 N-H-L Draft opened the scoring Friday and it looked like the Blades would cruise to victory, building a 4-0 lead after two periods as Egor Sidorov, Charlie Wright and Brandon Lisowsky also tallied to chase Moose Jaw goaltender Jackson Unger to the bench in favour of 17-year-old rookie Fortin, However, the Warriors put together a furious third period rally to force extra time for the fourth time in the series. Saskatoon has won three of the four games decided in a fourth period. In this overtime, Moose Jaw forward Atley Calvert hit the goal-post on a 2-on-1 rush a few minutes before Minten gave the Bridge City Bunch the triumph. The Warriors out-shot the Blades 43-42 with Fortin stopping 24 of 25 shots in relief of Unger. Wright added an assist to his goal, Alexander Suzdalev chipped in with three helpers and Easton Armstrong had a pair of assists for the Blue and Gold, who get first crack at advancing to the Ed Chynoweth Cup championship series when they visit Moose Jaw Sunday at 2 o’clock. CJWW’s broadcast starts at 6:45 p.m. with the Palliser Rooms E-Q-3 Cutting Edge Pre-Game Show. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game Show comments from head coach Brennan Sonne, Suzdalev and Minten plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Moose Jaw Warriors 4 at Saskatoon Blades 5 (OT) – Status: Final OT
Friday, May 3, 2024 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Moose Jaw 0 0 4 0 – 4
Saskatoon 2 2 0 1 – 5
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Minten 7 (Suzdalev), 2:56. 2, Saskatoon, Sidorov 14 (Armstrong, Saunderson), 10:56. Penalties-Firkus Mj (tripping), 13:22.
2nd Period-3, Saskatoon, Wright 4 (Wong, Armstrong), 5:06 (PP). 4, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 7 (Wright, Suzdalev), 14:23. Penalties-Savoie Mj (high sticking, high sticking), 2:30.
3rd Period-5, Moose Jaw, Schuurman 4 (Rysavy, Calvert), 0:49. 6, Moose Jaw, Firkus 11 (Savoie, Yager), 4:41 (PP). 7, Moose Jaw, Mateychuk 7 (Calvert), 7:38. 8, Moose Jaw, Mateychuk 8 (Firkus, Rysavy), 13:18. Penalties-Armstrong Sas (delay of game), 4:09; Mateychuk Mj (delay of game), 18:49.
OT Period-9, Saskatoon, Minten 8 (Molendyk, Suzdalev), 18:15. Penalties-Vojtech Port Mj (high sticking), 10:48.
Shots on Goal-Moose Jaw 17-5-15-6-43. Saskatoon 10-11-11-10-42.
Power Play Opportunities-Moose Jaw 1 / 1; Saskatoon 1 / 5.
Goalies-Moose Jaw, Unger (17 shots-13 saves); Fortin (25 shots-24 saves). Saskatoon, Gardner (43 shots-39 saves).
A-11,173
Referees-Mark Pearce (5), Mike Campbell (89).
Linesmen-Devan Thiessen (94), Chad Huseby (59).
