Tanner Molendyk (pictured) celebrated his return to the Saskatoon Blades’ line-up Friday night by scoring the game-winning goal as the Bridge City Bunch edged the Spokane Chiefs 2-1.
The 19-year-old defenceman started his fifth season with the Blue and Gold by finding a smallish space with a shot on tough-to-beat Spokane goaltender Dawson Cowan just past the mid-point of the third period to snap a 1-1 tie. Molendyk had just returned to the Blades earlier in the week from the N-H-L’s Nashville Predators. Saskatoon captain Ben Saunderson notched the other goal for the Bridge City Bunch while Saskatoon product Berkly Catton opened the game scoring on a second period power play for the Chiefs, who had a five-game winning streak snapped – leaving their record at 6-2-0, 1-1-0 on their East Division road trip. In improving to 5-1-1 for the season, the Blue and Gold out-shot Spokane 36-21 – 26-6 over the final two periods and 13-1 in the third frame. The Blades are back in action Saturday when they face Moose Jaw for the first time since the heart-breaking Game 7 overtime loss to the Warriors in the Eastern Conference final back in May. Game time is 7 p.m. with CJWW’s broadcast starting at 6:45. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L plus the Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Dan Da Silva, Molendyk and goaltender Evan Gardner…
Spokane Chiefs 1 at Saskatoon Blades 2 – Status: Final
Friday, October 11, 2024 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Spokane 0 1 0 – 1
Saskatoon 0 1 1 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-1, Spokane, Catton 2 (Crampton), 3:43 (PP). 2, Saskatoon, Saunderson 1 (Volotovskii, Calvert), 15:31. Penalties-Lisowsky Sas (charging), 3:11; Mayes Spo (interference), 4:23; Tastad Sas (cross checking), 11:28.
3rd Period-3, Saskatoon, Molendyk 1 (Williams, Olsen), 10:35. Penalties-McIsaac Spo (slashing), 18:40.
Shots on Goal-Spokane 15-5-1-21. Saskatoon 10-13-13-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Spokane 1 / 2; Saskatoon 0 / 2.
Goalies-Spokane, Cowan 4-1-0-0 (36 shots-34 saves). Saskatoon, Gardner 2-1-1-0 (21 shots-20 saves).
A-4,119
Referees-Adam Bloski (16), Ridge Brooks (161).
Linesmen-Riley Carriere (72), Marc Guitard (116).
