Mere hours after the passing of the W-H-L’s Trade Deadline, the Saskatoon Blades served notice that they are ready to be serious contenders for the league championship with a 7-2 triumph over the visiting Vancouver Giants Wednesday.
The Bridge City Bunch jumped out to a 2-0 lead and were never threatened as they needed a total of 36 seconds to respond to Vancouver’s goals. A new forward line of Brandon Lisowsky (pictured), Fraser Minten and Alexander Suzdalev combined for nine points. Suzdalev notched a hat-trick in his SaskTel Centre debut with the Blue and Gold and added an assist, Lisowsky became the 29th player in franchise history to reach the 100-goal plateau as a Blade. He also chipped in a helper while Minten had three assists in his return to Saskatoon from being the captain of Team Canada at the World Junior Championship. Easton Armstrong, Rowan Calvert and 16-year-old affiliate defenceman Brayden Klimpke – with his first W-H-L goal – completed the scoring for the 27-8-4 Bridge City Bunch, who are 12-0-4 in their last 16 outings. Fourteen of the 18 Blue and Gold skaters recorded at least a point. The Giants were out-shot 45-22 as their three-game winning streak was ended and their record dropped to 16-22-2. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Brennan Sonne, Suzdalev and Lisowsky plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Vancouver Giants 2 at Saskatoon Blades 7 – Status: Final
Wednesday, January 10, 2024 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Vancouver 0 2 0 – 2
Saskatoon 2 3 2 – 7
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Suzdalev 1 (Saunderson, Hansen), 5:40. 2, Saskatoon, Armstrong 20 (Wong, Sidorov), 18:59 (PP). Penalties-Andrusiak Sas (hooking), 14:50; Wilson Van (tripping), 18:34.
2nd Period-3, Vancouver, Leslie 9 (Halaburda, Lipinski), 5:35 (PP). 4, Saskatoon, Suzdalev 2 (Minten, Lisowsky), 5:48. 5, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 21 (Minten, Suzdalev), 7:59. 6, Vancouver, Zimmer 13 (Thorpe), 17:31 (SH). 7, Saskatoon, Suzdalev 3 (Minten, Parr), 17:54. Penalties-Suzdalev Sas (hooking), 4:39; Zimmer Van (tripping), 14:53; Leslie Van (cross checking), 15:52; Oreskovic Van (hooking), 18:48.
3rd Period-8, Saskatoon, Klimpke 1 (Kibblewhite), 5:33. 9, Saskatoon, Calvert 5 (Siepmann, Andrusiak), 19:00. Penalties-Edwards Van (cross checking), 3:06; Hansen Sas (tripping), 19:36.
Shots on Goal-Vancouver 8-11-3-22. Saskatoon 16-12-17-45.
Power Play Opportunities-Vancouver 1 / 3; Saskatoon 1 / 5.
Goalies-Vancouver, Mirwald 13-16-1-0 (45 shots-38 saves). Saskatoon, Gardner 10-4-0-1 (22 shots-20 saves).
A-3,670
Referees-Mike Langin (67), Ty Skene (19).
Linesmen-Brayden Glynn (96), Tanner McGregor (55).
