Two goals in 14 seconds late in the third period allowed the Saskatoon Blades to turn Koen MacInnes’ outstanding goaltending into a win in his W-H-L regular-season debut as the Bridge City Bunch edged the Hurricanes 3-2 Wednesday night in Lethbridge.
The Canes appeared headed to their first home win in three tries in the new season…until Jayden Wiens banked a centring pass off Lethbridge goaltender Bryan Thomson’s stick and in to tie the score at 2-2 with 3:01 left. Then, after the Hurricanes called a time-out to settle down, the Blue and Gold won the centre-ice face-off, gained possession of the Canes’ zone and Scott Walford’s (pictured) seeing-eye shot from the blue-line beat Thomson to give the Blades two points in the standings that they probably should have had in Tuesday’s 2-1 loss in Red Deer. Saskatoon held on over the final 2:47 to end a three-game losing streak and improve their season record to 2-3-0.
“It’s funny how things work sometimes in this game,” explained Bridge City Bunch assistant coach Ryan Keller. “Through 60 minutes, we obviously had a better effort (Tuesday) night…were more organized…(Wednesday) we had some guys playing big minutes and just couldn’t kind of get ourselves going, we were kind of stuck in mud a little bit…just spinning our wheels…and, obviously, didn’t spend enough time in their end.
“But, at the end of the day, it just happened to work out.”
Zach Huber opened the scoring with his first of the season. Wiens’ marker was the first goal and point in the W-H-L for the 16-year-old rookie centre from Carrot River while Walford notched his team-leading fourth goal and sixth point. For the third straight game, the Blue and Gold allowed two opposition power play goals as Dylan Cozens and Logan Barlage were the only players for 2-2-1 Lethbridge to beat MacInnes. The Hurricanes out-shot the Blades 38-22 and held a territorial edge similar to Tuesday when Saskatoon out-shot Red Deer 35-24.
The Bridge City Bunch return to action Friday when they visit the Prince Albert Raiders. Game time is 7 o’clock with the Sardinia Family Restaurant pre-game show on 98-COOL beginning at 6. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Saskatoon Blades 3 at Lethbridge Hurricanes 2 – Status: Final
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 – Enmax Centre – Lethbridge, AB
Saskatoon 1 0 2 – 3
Lethbridge 1 0 1 – 2
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Huber 1 (De La Gorgendiere, Zabransky), 3:37. 2, Lethbridge, Cozens 4 (Addison, Kambeitz), 17:59 (PP). Penalties-served by Kambeitz Let (too many men), 7:43; Zabransky Sas (interference), 16:38.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Kneen Sas (tripping), 4:08; Stringer Let (interference), 5:20; Okuliar Let (tripping), 5:30; Wiens Sas (roughing), 9:57; Okuliar Let (high sticking), 17:18; McNabb Sas (interference), 19:05.
3rd Period-3, Lethbridge, Barlage 1 (Cozens, Addison), 0:41 (PP). 4, Saskatoon, Wiens 1 (Orchard), 16:59. 5, Saskatoon, Walford 4 (Crnkovic, Kneen), 17:13. Penalties-Kjemhus Sas (roughing), 3:14; Wilson Let (tripping), 12:30.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 6-7-9-22. Lethbridge 11-14-13-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 5; Lethbridge 2 / 5.
Goalies-Saskatoon, MacInnes 1-0-0-0 (38 shots-36 saves). Lethbridge, Thomson 2-1-0-0 (22 shots-19 saves).
A-2,861
Referees-Tyler Jensen (49), Jordan Lightbown (74).
Linesmen-Devin Kohlhauser (92), Matt Schoenroth (21).
