Following a ragged opening 18 minutes and change, the Saskatoon Blades found their scoring touch over the next 22 minutes and change to record an 8-3 victory over the Pats in Regina Friday night.
In their first pre-season game of 2019, the Bridge City Bunch connected for all eight of their goals, on just 21 shots, between the 18:55 mark of the first period and 1:10 of the third frame. Six of the goals came in the second period. Colton Dach (pictured) scored twice and added an assist while captain Chase Wouters, Kyle Crnkovic, defenceman prospect Spencer Shugrue, 15-year-old forward Hayden Smith, Czech blueliner Radek Kucerik and veteran rearguard Nolan Kneen added singles. Shugrue added two assists for a three-point night and veteran right winger Zach Huber chipped in three helpers. In all, 13 of the 18 Blue and Gold skaters picked up at least one scoring point. Crnkovic, Kneen and Wouters each picked up an assist in addition to their goals while sophomore defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere was +5 while notching a pair of helpers.
Nolan Maier went the distance in goal for the Blades, who out-shot 1-1-0 Regina 42-40. Saskatoon is back in action at the Brandt Centre Saturday afternoon at 3 o’clock against the Moose Jaw Warriors. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Saskatoon Blades 8 at Regina Pats 3 – Status: Final
Friday, August 30, 2019 – Brandt Centre – Regina, SK
Saskatoon 1 6 1 – 8
Regina 1 2 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Regina, Stanick 1 (Pratt, Feist), 2:49. 2, Saskatoon, Crnkovic 1 (Wouters), 18:55. Penalties-Wright Reg (hooking), 5:37; Kaddoura Sas (interference), 8:26; Kieper Reg (delay of game), 9:26; Wouters Sas (interference), 10:37.
2nd Period-3, Saskatoon, Shugrue 1 (Huber, Dach), 3:09. 4, Saskatoon, Smith 1 (May, Kneen), 7:46. 5, Saskatoon, Wouters 1 (De La Gorgendiere, Crnkovic), 11:40. 6, Saskatoon, Dach 1 (Plaschewsky, Shugrue), 13:53. 7, Saskatoon, Kucerik 1 (Shugrue, Wiens), 16:43. 8, Saskatoon, Dach 2 (De La Gorgendiere, Huber), 18:15. 9, Regina, Pierce 1 (Sanders, Holt), 18:46. 10, Regina, Kolle 1 (Evans, Pratt), 19:08 (PP). Penalties-Kolle Reg (slashing), 9:03; Wouters Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 14:55; Kolle Reg (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 14:55; McKay Sas (interference), 18:59; Feist Reg (high sticking), 19:57.
3rd Period-11, Saskatoon, Kneen 1 (Huber, McNabb), 1:10 (PP). Penalties-McKay Sas (interference), 2:04; Shugrue Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 13:53; Kolle Reg (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 13:53.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 14-18-10-42. Regina 16-11-13-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 1 / 4; Regina 1 / 4.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Maier 1-0-0-0 (40 shots-37 saves). Regina, Kieper 0-0-0-0 (24 shots-21 saves); Pesenti 1-1-0-0 (18 shots-13 saves).
A-
Referees-Ben Croker (81), Mike Langin (67).
Linesmen-Sean Dufour (50).
