The Saskatoon Blades are heading into their Christmas break with a 17-14-3 record after a 3-2 shootout loss to the Kelowna Rockets Wednesday night at SaskTel Centre.

Shane Smith scored the only goal of the shootout in the third round to give Kelowna a 3-2-0 record on their East Division road trip with one game remaining against Prince Albert on Friday. The Bridge City Bunch were holding a 2-1 lead when the Rockets had an apparent tying goal waived off by referee Cianna Murray. However, after an eight-minute video review, the call on the ice was overturned and the game would go to overtime. The Blue and Gold out-shot Kelowna 6-1 in the five-minute, three-on-three fourth period – and 42-33 overall – only to be stymied by rookie American goaltender Harrison Boettiger. Hayden Harsanyi scored both goals for the Blades. It was a battle between two teams who have better road records than what they have on home ice with the away team coming up victorious again. It was the Rockets’ fourth straight win over Saskatoon at SaskTel Centre with the Bridge City Bunch’s last home win over Kelowna coming on December 19, 2015. The Rockets improved to 16-11-4 overall, 12-6-1 on the road, while the Blue and Gold are 7-7-1 at SaskTel Centre. The Blades are off until Saturday, December 27, when they host the Regina Pats to start a home-and-home series. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game Show conversations with head coach Dan Da Silva and defenceman Kaden Allan plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L website…..

KELOWNA Goals KELOWNA PLAYERS (plus) SASKATOON PLAYERS (minus) Per. Time  G-As1-As2 1st 8:37  15-29-4 4 9 15 18 29 3 4 9 16 77 3rd 18:02  19-16-23 4 9 16 19 23 4 9 16 37 71

SASKATOON Goals SASKATOON PLAYERS (plus) KELOWNA PLAYERS (minus) Per. Time  G-As1-As2 1st 14:41  26-19-46 19 26 27 37 46 12 19 25 27 37 2nd 16:01  26-27 4 19 26 27 37 3 4 16 18 25