No matter what happens in Tuesday’s lone game in the W-H-L’s East Division “Dubble” between Winnipeg and Regina, the Saskatoon Blades will be the top team in the Queen City with all seven teams having played six games.
That’s because the Bridge City Bunch gave as good as they took and out-scored the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-4 Monday night. That boosted the Blue and Gold’s record to 5-0-1, three points better than the ICE and Moose Jaw, through the first quarter of the 24-game season. The Blades started strong, jumping out to a 4-1 lead after the first period, but found penalty trouble as the 3-2-1 Wheaties goaded them with chippy play and a lot of trash-talking. However, Saskatoon’s penalty killing was stellar again, diffusing all seven Brandon power play chances. The Bridge City Bunch have now killed off 20 consecutive opposition man advantages over the last four games-plus. In addition, the Blue and Gold ended an oh-for-11 streak on their own power play when Blake Stevenson potted a juicy rebound off a Rhett Rhinehart point shot past Ethan Kruger in the Wheat Kings’ goal in the first period. There were 20 minor penalties called in the game…11 of them to Saskatoon…plus there was a fight and each team was handed a 10-minute misconduct.
Third-year veteran left winger Kyle Crnkovic (pictured) scored twice and added an assist and was named the game’s first star. The 18-year-old Chestermere, Alberta, product became the 140th skater in Blades’ franchise history to reach 100 points in his Saskatoon career…doing so on his first goal, which turned out to be the game-winner in the second period. Joining Stevenson with single tallies were defenceman Wyatt McLeod plus forwards Caiden Daley and Colton Dach. Koen MacInnes stopped 29 of 33 shots for his first win in goal for the Bridge City Bunch. Lynden McCallum scored twice for the Wheaties as they out-shot the Blue and Gold 33-28. The Blades’ next action is Wednesday when they take on the 1-5-0 Swift Current Broncos at 8 o’clock. Following is the game summary from the W-H-L…
Saskatoon Blades 6 at Brandon Wheat Kings 4 – Status: Final
Monday, March 22, 2021 – Brandt Centre – Regina, SK
Saskatoon 4 1 1 – 6
Brandon 1 2 1 – 4
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Wyatt McLeod 1 (Crnkovic, Dach), 3:45. 2, Saskatoon, Stevenson 3 (Daley, Rhinehart), 4:59 (PP). 3, Brandon, McCartney 4 (Chiasson, Salame), 8:50. 4, Saskatoon, Dach 2 (Schneider, Morozoff), 14:55. 5, Saskatoon, Daley 2 (Wouters, Lisowsky), 16:52. Penalties-Ritchie Bdn (inter. on goaltender), 4:33; De La Gorgendiere Sas (hooking), 7:53; Robins Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 8:31; Greig Bdn (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 8:31; McCallum Bdn (roughing), 8:31; Streek Sas (slashing), 12:00.
2nd Period-6, Brandon, McCallum 3 (Iorio, Ginnell), 10:31. 7, Saskatoon, Crnkovic 2 (Robins, De La Gorgendiere), 11:07. 8, Brandon, McCallum 4 (Ginnell), 12:18. Penalties-Wouters Sas (roughing), 0:06; Greig Bdn (roughing), 0:06; Streek Sas (hooking), 2:33; Morozoff Sas (roughing), 15:12; Greig Bdn (roughing), 15:12; Schneider Bdn (roughing), 15:12; Wright Sas (holding), 18:44; Wyatt McLeod Sas (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 20:00; Greig Bdn (roughing), 20:00; Iorio Bdn (roughing), 20:00.
3rd Period-9, Brandon, Ritchie 4 (McCallum), 14:19. 10, Saskatoon, Crnkovic 3 19:51 (EN). Penalties-served by May Sas (too many men), 2:25; Morozoff Sas (major-fighting), 7:49; Dube Bdn (major-fighting), 7:49; May Sas (roughing), 8:29; Perepeluk Bdn (charging, 10-minute misconduct), 11:09; Crnkovic Sas (hooking), 17:24.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 11-10-7-28. Brandon 9-9-15-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 1 / 5; Brandon 0 / 7.
Goalies-Saskatoon, MacInnes 1-0-1-0 (33 shots-29 saves). Brandon, Kruger 3-1-1-0 (27 shots-22 saves).
A-
Referees-Cody Beach (76), Mike Langin (67).
Linesmen-Lucas Nagel (170), Logan Tisdale (98).
