Over the last month-and-a-half, the only team to beat the W-H-L’s best club is the Saskatoon Blades.
On Wednesday in Edmonton, the Oil Kings had their 14-game winning streak ended by a 5-3 Bridge City Bunch triumph. The run started after the Blue and Gold trimmed Edmonton 6-1 on February 4th at SaskTel Centre. The Blades 33rd victory of the season was spearheaded by centre Tristen Robins (pictured) and goaltender Nolan Maier. Robins broke a 1-1 tie in the second period, eventually recording a natural hat trick, while Maier stopped 43 of 46 Oil Kings shots for his 27th win of the season and 118th of his career, leaving the Yorkton product two short of the all-time league record for career wins by a goaltender, jointly held by Tyson Sexsmith and Corey Hirsch. For Clear Lake, Manitoba, product Robins, the three goals gave him 30 for the season and was his third hat trick of the campaign. The loss also ended a 10-game winning streak at Rogers Place for the 44-12-3 Oil Kings, ranked first in the weekly C-H-L Top 10. Brandon Lisowsky opened the scoring and Tanner Molendyk closed it out with an empty net marker as the Blades improved to 33-20-4 for the season and reduced their Magic Number to clinch a playoff spot to five games. With Moose Jaw and Brandon losing, Saskatoon is, once again, one point behind the Warriors for fourth place in the Eastern Conference and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Bridge City Bunch have two games in hand on Moose Jaw. The Blue and Gold also moved nine points ahead of the sixth place Wheaties, although Brandon has played two fewer games than the Blades. Saskatoon’s next action is Saturday when they visit the Prince Albert Raiders. Following is the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L and Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show interview with head coach Brennan Sonne…..
Saskatoon Blades 5 at Edmonton Oil Kings 3 – Status: Final
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 – Rogers Place – Edmonton, AB
Saskatoon 1 2 2 – 5
Edmonton 1 0 2 – 3
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 32 (Sidorov, Wiens), 2:47. 2, Edmonton, Jalen Luypen 26 (Josh Williams), 11:07. Penalties-Pillar Sas (tripping), 15:16; Wiebe Edm (tripping), 17:39.
2nd Period-3, Saskatoon, Robins 28 (Maier), 4:22. 4, Saskatoon, Robins 29 (Crnkovic, Shugrue), 15:18. Penalties-Saunderson Sas (holding), 6:55; Shugrue Sas (interference), 19:32.
3rd Period-5, Saskatoon, Robins 30 (Watterodt, Crnkovic), 4:55. 6, Edmonton, Sourdif 20 (Logan Dowhaniuk, Kubicek), 7:12. 7, Edmonton, Jalen Luypen 27 (Prokop, Golder), 11:31. 8, Saskatoon, Molendyk 3 18:51 (EN). Penalties-Shea Van Olm Edm (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 2:12; Wiebe Edm (high sticking), 5:24; Boyko Sas (high sticking), 6:00.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 8-10-9-27. Edmonton 16-17-13-46.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 3; Edmonton 0 / 4.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Maier 27-17-3-1 (46 shots-43 saves). Edmonton, Cossa 30-7-2-1 (26 shots-22 saves).
A-3,515
Referees-Aydon Brown (85), Mike Langin (67).
Linesmen-Kristian Brown (147), Scott Fulmer (32).
