Another late-game heartbreaker sunk the Ice in a 3-2 loss to the visiting Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday at Western Financial Place.
Michael Farren scored the game winner for the Blades after a neutral zone turnover led to an odd-man rush into Kootenay territory, marking the second time in as many games where the outcome was decided in the dying few minutes of the contest.
“Obviously very heartbreaking for the team, for the fans,” said Ice head coach James Patrick. “I thought the last two periods, I liked the way we played. When it was five-on-five, I thought we did a lot of good things. We got pucks in deep, we spread the zone, we had possession more in the offensive zone than we were in the defensive zone, so all that I liked.”
The loss, combined with a win by the Red Deer Rebels in Kelowna, makes it an interesting situation in the Central Division standings. Kootenay and Red Deer are tied for third place, and will be in a dogfight for the rest of the season for that last divisional playoff spot.
The Blades got on the board in the first period during a power play when Blades rookie Kirby Dach, who was selected one spot behind budding Ice star Peyton Krebs in the 2016 WHL Draft, grabbed the early lead.
Dach blitzed down the wing, out-skating an Ice defenceman to pick up a banked pass of the side boards and roofed a shot over Berlin bar down and in.
Saskatoon doubled the lead in the second period on another powerplay, when Dawson Davidson scored from the top of the faceoff circle on a shot that goaltender Matt Berlin probably wants back.
Berlin made 24 saves on the night while his Blades opponent, Nolan Maier stopped 25 shots.
The two goals were tallied in five opportunities on the man-advantage for the Blades, burnishing a penalty kill that has been pretty solid for the Ice.
“Obviously on both goals there was something we could have done to prevent them,” said Patrick. “I thought we got out too high, opened up too much ice underneath, but that [last] one put us in a hole, for sure.”
Later in the period, Kootenay drew a few penalties and were rewarded with a two-man advantage for 1:28. Colton Veloso notched his 20th goal of the season and 50th of his WHL career after slapping home a backdoor pass from Brett Davis.
Saskatoon continued to hold the lead into the third period, getting their final powerplay chance when Brad Ginnell took a checking from behind minor. However, Brett Davis found himself on a shorthanded breakaway and he made no mistake going backhand top shelf with a nifty move to even up the score.
The two teams played each other tight heading down in the final stretch, but a blown tire in the neutral zone led to an odd-man rush into Kootenay territory and Farren deposited the game winner with 2:48 left on the clock.
However, the Ice showed some life as they pushed for the equalizer.
“You gotta get the puck on the net,” said Patrick. “I just thought when we pulled the goalie, I think it was twice where we could have kept the puck in, we need to seal the wall if they’re going to rim the puck and that puck got by us.
“When we finally did get possession we had trouble getting pucks by their shot lanes, so you need net front and you just have to try and find a way. It doesn’t have to be a shot; just get it past their guy into the blue paint and outnumber them and try to win a battle, so we didn’t do a good enough job. I know we had a look there, right at the end.”
NOTES: The Ice and Cranbrook Rotary Club teamed up to donate $10,000 to Cranbrook Minor Hockey Association on BC Family Day against the Hurricanes. The team has also called up Connor McClennion, their second overall draft selection from the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. McClennon is currently playing with the Northern Alberta Xtreme Midget Prep in CSSHL, where he has 26 goals and 41 assists in 31 games played.
