On a night where Kelowna goaltender Talyn Boyko was ready to stand taller than his 6’8″, it took a couple of unheralded Saskatoon Blades’ centres to find the range in a 4-2 victory Saturday.
Jayden Wiens (pictured) broke a 2-2 tie 8:36 into the third period, then set up Jordan Keller’s second tally of the night for insurance as the Bridge City Bunch broke into the win column in game two of their five-game B-C Division road trip. The two unanswered tallies in the third frame were both on a power play that was held off the scoresheet on its first five opportunities. The 19-year-old Wiens added a second assist on Conner Roulette’s 19th goal of the campaign, for a three-point night for the Carrot River product, as the Blue and Gold improved to 34-13-4 for the season. Czech import Gabriel Szturc notched both goals for 17-30-3 Kelowna, who were out-shot 39-18 by the 34-13-4 Blades. Saskatoon is back in action Tuesday in Prince George. Following is the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L, the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast and Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show interview with head coach Brennan Sonne…..
Saskatoon Blades 4 at Kelowna Rockets 2 – Status: Final
Saturday, February 11, 2023 – Prospera Place – Kelowna, BC
Saskatoon 2 0 2 – 4
Kelowna 1 1 0 – 2
1st Period-1, Kelowna, Szturc 16 (Price, DeSouza), 0:35. 2, Saskatoon, Keller 10 (Wong, Elliott), 6:15. 3, Saskatoon, Roulette 19 (Calvert, Wiens), 16:55. Penalties-Szturc Kel (hooking), 2:21; Roulette Sas (holding), 4:40; Carmichael Kel (slashing), 5:40; Wiens Sas (high sticking), 14:28.
2nd Period-4, Kelowna, Szturc 17 (Kydd), 16:09 (SH). Penalties-Pacheco Kel (high sticking, high sticking), 15:12.
3rd Period-5, Saskatoon, Wiens 11 (Sidorov, De La Gorgendiere), 8:36 (PP). 6, Saskatoon, Keller 11 (Wiens, Wong), 14:15 (PP). Penalties-Neutens Kel (high sticking), 0:55; Kydd Kel (hooking), 7:39; Keller Sas (cross checking), 10:06; Pacheco Kel (boarding), 13:04; Hansen Sas (tripping), 17:04.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 17-11-11-39. Kelowna 6-6-6-18.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 2 / 7; Kelowna 0 / 4.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Elliott 18-5-2-0 (18 shots-16 saves). Kelowna, Boyko 9-20-1-0 (39 shots-35 saves).
A-4,045
Referees-Brayden Arcand, Mark Pearce (5).
Linesmen-Zach Anderson (160), Cody Wanner (56).
