The “Bounce Back Blades” did just that on Wednesday – and ended an unlikely trend from the first three games of the series – as Saskatoon out-lasted the Warriors 5-4 in Moose Jaw.

Egor Sidorov (pictured) scored the winning goal at 3:29 of extra time to even the best-of-seven W-H-L Eastern Conference final at 2-2. It’s the 13th time in 16 such situations that the Bridge City Bunch avoided back-to-back losses. And, with two of the next three games, if necessary, scheduled for SaskTel Centre, this bounce back triumph is the biggest of the Blue and Gold’s season to date. Sidorov scored when the puck was batted away from a Warriors player by Brandon Lisowsky to Sidorov all alone in front of the Moose Jaw net. Sidorov was able to deke and lift the puck into the net for his fourth game-winning goal of the post-season. The Blades roared out to a great start, scoring on three of their first five shots. Brandon Lisowsky opened the scoring after just 14 seconds of play, Trevor Wong tallied 53 seconds later and Alexander Suzdalev made it 3-0 before the nine minute mark. However, Moose Jaw pushed back, as expected, scoring twice on either side of a Tanner Molendyk marker, and forging a tie just before the mid-point of the second period. Then, the goaltenders took over with Saskatoon’s Evan Gardner busier than Jackson Unger as the Warriors held a 37-24 advantage on the shot clock. By winning, the Bridge City Bunch are the first team to do so in the series when scoring the game’s opening goal. The Blue and Gold have won four of five overtime games this post-season and two of three in the series. Game 5 of this epic battle is Friday at 7 o’clock at SaskTel Centre with Game 6 Sunday at 2 p.m. in Moose Jaw. A Game 7, if necessary, is Tuesday in Saskatoon. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show talk with head coach Brennan Sonne and the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..

Saskatoon Blades 5 (OT) at Moose Jaw Warriors 4 – Status: Final OT
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – Moose Jaw Events Centre – Moose Jaw, SK

Saskatoon 4 0 0 1 – 5
Moose Jaw 2 2 0 0 – 4

1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 6 (Minten), 0:14. 2, Saskatoon, Wong 4 (Armstrong, Siepmann), 1:07. 3, Saskatoon, Suzdalev 4 (Saunderson, Lisowsky), 8:32. 4, Moose Jaw, Yager 9 (Firkus, Parker), 12:06. 5, Moose Jaw, Firkus 10 (Yager, Rysavy), 16:54. 6, Saskatoon, Molendyk 3 (Watterodt, Hansen), 17:52. Penalties-Andrusiak Sas (holding), 5:44; Saunderson Sas (tripping), 10:06; Molendyk Sas (tripping), 18:59.

2nd Period-7, Moose Jaw, Yager 10 (Firkus, Savoie), 1:04. 8, Moose Jaw, Kovacevic 3 (Rysavy, Parker), 9:57. Penalties-Parker Mj (tripping), 13:20; Vojtech Port Mj (roughing), 19:55.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Molendyk Sas (slashing), 11:59.

OT Period-9, Saskatoon, Sidorov 13 (Lisowsky), 3:29. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 7-6-8-3-24. Moose Jaw 12-14-8-3-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 2; Moose Jaw 0 / 4.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Gardner (37 shots-33 saves). Moose Jaw, Unger (24 shots-19 saves).
A-4,643
Referees-Bobby Jo Love (11), Ward Pateman (124).
Linesmen-Ryan Lundquist (106), Tarrington Wyonzek (137).