The Saskatoon Blades still have a Magic Number to clinch a playoff spot!

The Calgary Hitmen bounced back from an 8-3 loss Tuesday in Prince Albert to edge the Bridge City Bunch 4-3 Wednesday in front of 3,063 fans at SaskTel Centre. As a result, the 31-24-5 Blue and Gold need just one point…either that they earn in the standings or Red Deer loses in order to become the 14th team to qualify for the W-H-L post-season.

“We started the game pretty well. We were able to get the first goal and grabbed some momentum and then we just didn’t capitalize on our chances,” explained Blades’ assistant coach Ryan Keller. “I feel we didn’t give up a ton (of chances). Credit to them, they have some skilled players over there that when they did get those opportunities, they made the most of them.”

One of those skilled Calgary players is Vancouver Canucks’ draft pick Carson Focht. The Regina product snapped a 2-2 tie at 5:52 of the third period with a solo rush into the Saskatoon end before beating Nolan Maier with a quick shot. The win ended a three-game losing streak for the 35-22-5 Hitmen who sit in the first Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot, eight points ahead of the Blue and Gold and four back of Medicine Hat for third place in the Central Division.

Jayden Wiens, Caiden Daley and Martin Fasko-Rudas replied for the Bridge City Bunch while Nolan Kneen added a pair of assists and Daley had a helper as well. The Blades remain two points back of Winnipeg for third place in the East Division, but the ICE now have a game-in-hand.

The weird thing about the season series between Saskatoon and Calgary is that the road team won all four games. The Hitmen out-shot the Blades 33-32. Saskatoon’s next action, and third chance to clinch a post-season berth, is a Friday home game against Regina. Game time is 7 p.m. with the broadcast on 98-COOL beginning at 6 with the Sardinia Family Restaurant pre-game show. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…

Calgary Hitmen 4 at Saskatoon Blades 3 – Status: Final
Wednesday, March 4, 2020 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK

Calgary 1 1 2 – 4
Saskatoon 1 1 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Wiens 7 (Kneen, Daley), 2:56. 2, Calgary, Zimmerman 6 (Focht, Olson), 6:55. Penalties-Krebs Cgy (roughing), 12:08; Morozoff Sas (roughing), 12:08.

2nd Period-3, Calgary, Kastelic 37 (Woo, Stotts), 16:57 (PP). 4, Saskatoon, Daley 7 (Kucerik, Robins), 18:36. Penalties-Kastelic Cgy (hooking), 1:27; Kastelic Cgy (slashing), 12:11; Wright Sas (hooking), 16:39.

3rd Period-5, Calgary, Focht 32 5:52. 6, Calgary, Krebs 3 (Stotts), 8:59. 7, Saskatoon, Fasko-Rudas 14 (Kneen), 18:48. Penalties-Robins Sas (high sticking), 0:23; Woo Cgy (tripping), 0:57; van de Leest Cgy (elbowing), 19:57.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 13-13-7-33. Saskatoon 13-12-7-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 1 / 2; Saskatoon 0 / 4.
Goalies-Calgary, Peters 17-13-2-0 (32 shots-29 saves). Saskatoon, Maier 19-19-1-3 (33 shots-29 saves).
A-3,063
Referees-Jason Bourdon (20), Mike Campbell (89).
Linesmen-Sean Dufour (50), Brayden Glynn (96).