After going more than two full games without a goal, a pair of snipes 30 seconds apart in the third period Wednesday night was good enough for the Saskatoon Blades to finally record a victory on their season-longest road trip!
Tristen Robins (pictured) and Nolan Kneen managed to beat Beck Warm, who was hot in the opposition goal, while Nolan Maier was equally brilliant between the pipes for the Bridge City Bunch in a 2-1 triumph over the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Washington. The win ended the Blue and Gold’s losing streak at four games while Robins’ goal at 3:35 of the third period snapped a goal-less run for the Blades at 122:19.
“It was a good start to the third (period),” explained Saskatoon associate coach Ryan Marsh. “We had our chances in the second (three goalposts or crossbars plus 20 shots on goal) and for whatever reason that puck wasn’t going in. Credit to our guys for just staying with it. We were going through a little bit of a rough patch. We stepped our game up (Wednesday) night. We played a hard, honest game and the guys were rewarded with the win.”
It was a chippy contest that bubbled over into fisticuffs on four separate occasions in front of a smallish, but loud crowd of 2,720 at the Toyota Center. In the previous 26 Blades’ games this season, there had only been six fighting majors handed out to Bridge City Bunch players. The Blue and Gold out-shot the Americans, now 0-3-2 in their last five games, by a 45-35 total.
Now 13-12-2 for the season, the Blades finished the U.S. Division portion of their trip with a 1-4-0 record. They finish up the swing Friday night in Lethbridge and Saturday in Medicine Hat. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Saskatoon Blades 2 at Tri-City Americans 1 – Status: Final
Wednesday, November 27, 2019 – Toyota Center – Kennewick, WA
Saskatoon 0 0 2 – 2
Tri-City 0 0 1 – 1
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Lambert Tc (hooking), 4:12; Kjemhus Sas (hooking), 8:15; De La Gorgendiere Sas (tripping), 12:00; Stevenson Tc (interference), 14:41; Kjemhus Sas (major-fighting), 17:46; Kohle Tc (major-fighting), 17:46.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Stewart Tc (charging), 1:49; Wouters Sas (major-fighting), 9:17; Brown Tc (major-fighting), 9:17; De La Gorgendiere Sas (holding), 10:19; Bowman Tc (hooking), 12:08; Kaddoura Sas (interference), 14:17; Wiens Sas (holding), 19:15.
3rd Period-1, Saskatoon, Robins 9 (McKay), 3:35. 2, Saskatoon, Kneen 6 (Toman, Dach), 4:05. 3, Tri-City, Daniel 2 (Mutala), 15:51. Penalties-Huber Sas (major-fighting), 12:11; McAndrews Tc (major-fighting), 12:11; Schmidt Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd., major-fighting), 14:02; Brown Tc (cross checking, major-fighting), 14:02; Walford Sas (major – checking to the head, game misconduct), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 11-20-14-45. Tri-City 14-10-11-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 4; Tri-City 0 / 6.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Maier 10-10-1-1 (35 shots-34 saves). Tri-City, Warm 8-9-1-1 (45 shots-43 saves).
A-2,720
Referees-Stephen Campbell (14), Trevor Nolan (51).
Linesmen-Trevor Beaton (155), Steven Fleming (144).
