Several good things led to a lot of accomplishments for the Saskatoon Blades Friday, as a result of a 3-1 triumph over the visiting Regina Pats.

Defenceman Marek Schneider (pictured) broke a 1-1 tie with his first career W-H-L goal, in his 56th game, late in the second period as the Bridge City Bunch clinched a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The win also moved the Blue and Gold back to within a point of the fourth place Warriors with a battle set for Saturday in Moose Jaw. In addition, the Blades held Pats’ 16-year-old superstar centre Connor Bedard off the scoresheet for the first time since January 29th, ending his points streak at 21 games. Egor Sidorov and Tristen Robins scored the other goals and Regina product Kyren Gronick added two assists for Saskatoon as they improved their record to 34-22-4 in front of the largest SaskTel Centre crowd of the season at 7,523. The Bridge City Bunch out-shot 23-30-5 Regina 44-24 with the only shot to elude Blue and Gold netminder Ethan Chadwick being a power play tally from Pats’ captain Logan Nijhoff. Game time Saturday from Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw for the Blades and Warriors is 7 o’clock. The broadcast on CJWW begins at 6:30. Following is the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L, plus Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Brennan Sonne, Schneider and Gronick…..

Regina Pats 1 at Saskatoon Blades 3 – Status: Final
Friday, March 25, 2022 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK

Regina 1 0 0 – 1
Saskatoon 1 1 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Sidorov 18 (Pillar), 15:21. 2, Regina, Nijhoff 17 (Howe, Evans), 16:52 (PP). Penalties-Berge Reg (high sticking), 8:01; Armstrong Reg (interference), 10:38; Paulhus Sas (boarding), 15:37.

2nd Period-3, Saskatoon, Schneider 1 (Gronick, Volotovskii), 16:14. Penalties-Evans Reg (high sticking), 11:49; Lisowsky Sas (hooking), 11:59; Feist Reg (tripping), 12:31; McNutt Reg (roughing), 20:00; Rhinehart Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 20:00; Saunderson Sas (roughing), 20:00.

3rd Period-4, Saskatoon, Robins 32 (Gronick, Wright), 3:11. Penalties-Rowan Reg (major-fighting), 5:28; Schneider Sas (major-fighting), 5:28.

Shots on Goal-Regina 13-4-7-24. Saskatoon 13-21-10-44.
Power Play Opportunities-Regina 1 / 2; Saskatoon 0 / 4.
Goalies-Regina, Sim 5-14-1-2 (44 shots-41 saves). Saskatoon, Chadwick 6-3-0-0 (24 shots-23 saves).
A-7,523
Referees-Aydon Brown (85), Bob Millette (61).
Linesmen-Tanner McGregor (55), Andrew Sawatsky (123).