Tyler Lowey

Ice crush Blades 7-2

The Kootenay Ice snapped a six-game losing streak in dramatic fashion, scoring five goals in the opening period on their way to a 7-2 romp over the Saskatoon Blades on Sunday.

Cameron Hausinger led the way offensively with three assists, while most of the usual suspects lit the goal lamp, including Brett Davis, Colton Veloso, Colton Kroeker and Alec Baer.

Keenan Taphorn earned his fifth goal of the season while Sam Huston added his third of the WHL campaign with his second goal in as many games.

Saskatoon responded on efforts from Max Gerlach and Jake Kustra.

“I loved everything about how we played today,” said Kroeker, who serves as team captain. “Played our system well on the back-check, forecheck, did all the little things right, scored goals — that was nice too. Everyone was clicking, all four lines were going. It was fun to play in.”

Ice netminder Duncan McGovern got the call in goal, making 28 saves for the win while Tyler Brown made 25 stops in a losing cause.

Getting back into the win column after six outings was the biggest takeaway from the night, said Ice head coach James Patrick.

“That’s the most important part of the game for us, putting an end to the losing streak and seeing if we can turn around to start winning some bunches of games here and just stay focused on one game at a time,” Patrick said. “We lost enough on this last road trip and we need to put an end to it.”

However, on Sunday afternoon, Ice scored early and they scored often.

Brett Davis got the Kootenay squad on the board four minutes into the night, finishing off a backdoor pass from Hausinger at the top of the faceoff circle.

Two minutes later, Baer doubled the lead, walking out of the corner, dancing around the defence in the slot, and stuffing the puck past an outstretched goalie pad.

Colton Kroeker also got in on the fun, and Davis tallied his second of the night after a nifty move to gain the zone and beat Brown.

“I thought Brett Davis was dominant, he’s played real good, he’s been our best player the last month, he continued that,” said Patrick. “I thought we fed off of him, Kroeker was good and from the last time we played them — obviously they’ve made some moves — but I think getting Martin Bodak back, it helps out the defence a lot.

Max Gerlach responded for the Blades near the end of the frame, but Veloso answered right back in the final minute before the period ticked down.

The pain kept coming in the second period for the Blades, but first the Ice had to dig themselves out of some penalty trouble, including a five-on-three powerplay that was successfully killed.

Despite the five goal outburst in the opening frame, Patrick said he was apprehensive heading into the middle frame.

“I was worried,” Patrick said. “[We had] a 5-1 lead and I still had some fear because I know they’re a dangerous rush team that they can score quick and they can score in bunches.”

Late in the period, the Ice got a two-man advantage of their own and Keenan Taphorn wired a shot over the blocker from the high slot after some swift puck movement around the zone.

Just before the period ended, Huston got in on the action, picking an open corner after trailing the play and taking a pass from Kroeker.

Patrick noted that Huston has been working on his shot with assistant coach Jon Klemm in skill sessions this past week, who has been coaching the defence to shoot the puck with their heads up.

“The whole focus was shooting with your head up; you couldn’t look at the puck,” Patrick said. “Our two skill sessions on Monday and Tuesday morning, they took hundreds of shots.

“Sam [has] scored two goals, both with his head up so the whole bench was super excited because he’s a guy who doesn’t score much, he’s a popular guy, so it was fun to see.”

Late in the final frame, Kustra scored the Blades’ second goal of the night, beating McGovern who dove across the crease in a valiant attempt to make a save after some scrambled zone play.

With nine seconds left in the game, Bodak went end-to-end and generated a quality scoring chance but was hauled down while driving to the net. Officials awarded him a penalty shot, however, Brown made the save.

But by then, it was too late for the Blades.

NOTES: The Kootenay Ice recognized billet families for opening up their homes to players with a pre-game ceremony. G Jesse Makaj has joined the team, as Matt Berlin is currently sidelined with a lower body injury that is classified as day-to-day.