The Saskatoon Blades have recovered in historic fashion from an early 3-0 deficit to force a Game 7 with the Rebels in their W-H-L Eastern Conference semi-final series following a 5-3 victory Sunday afternoon in Red Deer.
Egor Sidorov (pictured) scored 34 seconds into the contest on a brilliant individual effort, capped by a one-handed shot, and the Bridge City Bunch were never caught as they evened the set at 3-3. Only twice in league history has a team fallen behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series, only to come back and win four straight games to advance in the playoffs. Sidorov added a second goal and an assist while Trevor Wong, Jake Chiasson and Jayden Wiens also tallied for the Blue and Gold, who prevailed despite being out-shot 38-23. For the second straight game, there was a chippy and nasty finish to the game with 96 of 114 minutes in penalties doled out in the final 74 seconds of playing time. Red Deer took a total of 78 of the 114 minutes in penalties…70 of those in the final 1:14. Historically, the Spokane Chiefs rallied from 3-0 down in the first round of the 1996 post-season to win 4-3 over the Portland Winterhawks while the Kelowna Rockets pulled the reverse sweep in 2013, coming back from 3-0 down to oust the Seattle Thunderbirds in seven games. The Blades came close to being the first to overcome a 3-0 deficit in 1990, only to lose Game 7 in overtime at Lethbridge. Game 7 of this series goes Tuesday at 7 o’clock at SaskTel Centre with CJWW’s broadcast starting at 6:45. 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 5 at Red Deer Rebels 3 – Status: Final
Sunday, April 23, 2023 – Peavey Mart Centrium – Red Deer, AB
Saskatoon 2 2 1 – 5
Red Deer 0 2 1 – 3
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Sidorov 8 0:34. 2, Saskatoon, Wong 5 (Lisowsky, Sidorov), 16:24. Penalties-Watterodt Sas (tripping), 4:27; Singer Rd (slashing), 12:12; Grubbe Rd (holding), 17:04.
2nd Period-3, Red Deer, Isley 2 (Lindgren, Uchacz), 5:09. 4, Saskatoon, Sidorov 9 (Lisowsky, Wong), 9:53 (PP). 5, Saskatoon, Chiasson 4 (Shugrue), 17:37. 6, Red Deer, Uchacz 9 (Quentin Bourne, Singer), 19:31. Penalties-Sedoff Rd (tripping), 8:31; Pillar Sas (slashing), 10:38; Singer Rd (inter. on goaltender), 14:20.
3rd Period-7, Red Deer, Isley 3 12:13. 8, Saskatoon, Wiens 7 18:08. Penalties-Sidorov Sas (tripping), 6:28; Wong Sas (inter. on goaltender), 8:38; Grubbe Rd (10-minute misconduct), 18:46; King Rd (inter. on goaltender), 18:46; Hansen Sas (cross checking, major-fighting), 19:12; Keller Sas (major-fighting), 19:12; Zizka Sas (roughing), 19:12; Isley Rd (cross checking, major-fighting), 19:12; Larson Rd (instigator, major-fighting, game-second fight, game misconduct), 19:12; Uchacz Rd (roughing), 19:12; Keller Sas (slashing), 19:36; Saunderson Sas (10-minute misconduct), 19:36; Fabrizi Rd (10-minute misconduct), 19:36; Mayo Rd (cross checking), 19:58.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 6-11-6-23. Red Deer 16-9-13-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 1 / 6; Red Deer 0 / 4.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Elliott (38 shots-35 saves). Red Deer, Coward (23 shots-18 saves).
A-5,067
Referees-Mike Campbell (89), Brett Iverson (24).
Linesmen-Chad Huseby (59), Cody Huseby (88).
