The Saskatoon Blades picked up a badly-needed two points following a see-saw 4-3 overtime triumph Friday in Red Deer over the Rebels.
Chase Wouters (pictured) finished off Tristen Robins’ two-on-one pass at 3:35 of the extra period as the Bridge City Bunch kept pace with Brandon in a tie for third place in the W-H-L’s East Division and moved nine points ahead of Red Deer who sit outside the playoffs. The Wheat Kings nipped visiting Prince Albert 1-0…the Raiders now winless in their last seven games (0-6-1) and only six points ahead of Brandon and Saskatoon.
Neither team lead by more than one goal with the Rebels owning 1-0 and 2-1 advantages while the Blue and Gold took a 3-2 edged into the third period.
“No matter where you play them, you know…based on how they’re coached…that they’re going to come and compete all over the ice, whether it’s faceoffs or around the net or along the walls, all those things,” explained Blue and Gold assistant coach Ryan Keller. “That was the biggest thing we emphasized going in, is that if we’re not competitive, we’re going to get pushed out of the game and it’s not going to go our way. We have to make sure that we match that competitiveness and do that for 60 minutes.
“It wavered throughout the game, but I think for the most part we were pretty competitive in all those areas.”
The Blades received stellar netminding from Nolan Maier over the final 43:35 as Red Deer out-shot Saskatoon 25-15, but were out-scored 3-2. Scott Walford, Nolan Kneen and Kyle Crnkovic also tallied for the Bridge City Bunch…now 18-16-3 for the season. Overall, the 13-19-4 Rebels out-shot the Blue and Gold 33-26. The Blades finish their Alberta schedule for the season Sunday afternoon in Edmonton against the Central Division and Eastern Conference-leading Oil Kings. Game time is 2 p.m. with the Sardinia Family Restaurant pre-game show at 1. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Saskatoon Blades 4 (OT) at Red Deer Rebels 3 – Status: Final OT
Friday, January 3, 2020 – Westerner Park Centrium – Red Deer, AB
Saskatoon 1 2 0 1 – 4
Red Deer 1 1 1 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Red Deer, Bains 12 (Sedoff, Douglas), 6:58 (PP). 2, Saskatoon, Walford 8 (Crnkovic, Florchuk), 11:57 (PP). Penalties-Walford Sas (hooking), 6:08; Melin Rd (roughing), 8:19; King Rd (cross checking), 11:41; Walford Sas (interference), 13:03; Sakowich Rd (tripping), 14:55; Ward Rd (high sticking), 16:02; Grubbe Rd (high sticking), 19:11.
2nd Period-3, Red Deer, Tarzwell 18 (Grubbe), 3:32. 4, Saskatoon, Kneen 7 (Toman, De La Gorgendiere), 5:03 (PP). 5, Saskatoon, Crnkovic 9 (Wiens, Robins), 15:47. Penalties-Isley Rd (cross checking), 4:53.
3rd Period-6, Red Deer, Bains 13 (Barteaux), 1:58. Penalties-Florchuk Sas (tripping), 14:55.
OT Period-7, Saskatoon, Wouters 15 (Robins, Walford), 3:35. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 11-11-2-2-26. Red Deer 8-12-12-1-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 2 / 6; Red Deer 1 / 3.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Maier 15-13-1-2 (33 shots-30 saves). Red Deer, Fancy 8-9-1-1 (26 shots-22 saves).
A-4,073
Referees-Jordan Lightbown (74), Troy Murray (34).
Linesmen-Przemek Iwaniec (140), Will Mosswick (91).
