SASKATOON — Last week was action packed for the Saskatoon Blades with four games on the schedule.
The Western Hockey League squad went 1-2-1-0. The Blades open the week with a 28-10-3-1 record. They are 3-4-2-1 in their last 10 outings.
The Blades fell 3-1 on the road Jan. 17 to the Moose Jaw Warriors. With goals by Eric Alaire in the first and Josh Hoekstra in the second, the Warriors led 2-0 halfway through the second sessions. Egor Sidorov scored on the powerplay 12:27 into the second period to pull the Blades to within one, 2-1. In the third, Brayden Yager scored shorthanded into an empty net for Moose Jaw. Blades goalie Austin Elliott made 28 saves. Connor Ungar had 20 saves for the Warriors.
The Blades earned a point in the standings as they fought back to force overtime on Jan. 18. They ended up falling 5-4 to the visiting Warriors. Sidorov put Saskatoon ahead, 1-0, in the first. In the second period, Moose Jaw’s Atley Calvert tied the contest at 1-1. Conner Roulette put the Blades up, 2-1. However, the Warriors reeled off three straight goals to take a 4-2 lead. Scoring for Moose Jaw were Ryder Korcazk, Jagger Firkus, and Calvert, on a powerplay. Roulette’s second of the night pulled the Blades to within one, 4-3, by the second intermission
In the third period, Trevor Wong lit the lamp to knot the contest at 4-4. In overtime, Maximus Wanner had the game winner for Moose Jaw.
Elliott started and five saves on eight starts for Saskatoon. Ethan Chadwick came on in relief and had seven saves on nine shots. Ungar turned away 39 shots.
The Saskatoon squad – wearing Bananas jerseys – snapped a two-game skid with a 6-1 home victory over the Prince Albert Raiders last Friday. The Blades broke out of the gate with four first-period goals. In the second period, Saskatoon outscored P.A. 2-1. The Blades were two-for-six on the powerplay and killed off all six of the Raiders’ man advantage opportunities.
In the first period, Misha Volotovskii, scored his second goal of the season. He followed that up less than a minute later with his third. Tanner Molendyk, Brandon Lisowsky, Sidorov, and Jordan Keller all also scored for the Blades. Sloan Stanick had Prince Albert’s lone goal. Chadwick stopped all but one of the 18 shots he faced. For the Raiders, Max Hildebrand stopped five of nine shots and Tikhon Chaika made 19 saves on 21 shots.
On the road in Prince Albert on Saturday, the Blades lost 3-1. On the strength of Lisowsky’s 23rd goal of the season, the Saskatoon squad led 1-0 at the intermissions. In the third period, the Raiders scored three times to grab victory. Keaton Sorensen, Niall Crocker, and Eric Johnston had P.A.’s goals. Elliott made 12 saves for Saskatoon. The Raiders’ Chaika stopped 24 shots.
The Blades are on the road this week. They play in Red Deer on Friday. The next night they visit the Calgary Hitmen. The games are part of a five-game road swing that started last Saturday. The Blades’ next home game is Feb. 4 when the Winnipeg Ice come to town.
