By Les Lazaruk
SWIFT CURRENT – The Saskatoon Blades will be sad to see the holiday season and as the month of December come to an end.
The Bridge City Bunch rallied from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits in the third period Saturday to defeat the Swift Current Broncos 4-3. It was the Blue and Gold’s fourth-straight victory to close out 2017. The Blades have now won seven of their last eight games and went 8-4-0 in December. It was their first winning month of the season. Saskatoon also went above .500-mark for the first time in the campaign and now sit 18-17-3.
Braylon Shmyr scored the winning goal with 4:35 remaining in the third period. Josh Paterson added a pair of third period goals in the Blades’ rally, while Cam Hebig notched his 29th goal of the season, opening the scoring on the Blue and Gold’s first shot on goal.
“Our second period, we weren’t willing to compete,” observed Blades’ Assistant Coach Jerome Engele. “It was like we just didn’t want to play that much in the second. In the third (period), we came out and we had that compete back in us. And, as soon as we took it to them, started taking the body, started playing the game like it’s supposed to be played, put pressure on their defence, they were giving turnovers the same way we were in our own end. But, we made good on the opportunities that we did have. Really, we eliminated a lot of their scoring chances. They didn’t have much in the third.”
Colby Sissons, Max Patterson and Beck Malenstyn replied for Swift Current as their five-game, home-ice winning streak came to an end. The Broncos record is 26-9-2 for 54 points, seven behind first place Moose Jaw in the East Division and three ahead of third place Brandon.
Saskatoon remains tied for fourth place in the East Division and seventh place in the Eastern Conference with the Regina Pats, but now six points clear of the Raiders for a playoff berth.
The Blades and Broncos meet again New Year’s Day at SaskTel Centre.
Pacman Points – After recording his first WHL hat-trick back Thursday in Saskatoon’s 6-4 victory in Prince Albert, Paterson had a dubious natural hat-trick Saturday. He deflected Malenstyn’s cross-ice pass into his own net, which was sandwiched by the two goals he scored for the Bridge City Bunch. As was the case Thursday, the 18-year-old, third-year Edmonton product was named the game’s first star.
Although they didn’t equal the 13 points they combined for Thursday in P.A., the Blue and Gold line of Shmyr, Paterson and Chase Wouters had another solid outing against the Broncos, as each player picked up two points. In the last eight games, Shmyr has 16 points (four goals + 12 assists), Paterson has 12 points (9+3) and Wouters has seven points (2+5).
Hebig bounced back from a pointless Thursday in P.A. with a goal and an assist. When the 20-year-old Saskatoon product hits the scoresheet, the Blades have a record of 16-6-3. The two points allowed Hebig to pass Wacey Rabbit, Kevin Tendler and present day Kelowna Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton into a tie for 53rd place on the Blades’ all-time points list. Hebig’s 188 points are the same amount posted by Garett Bembridge, Dean Holoein and Andy MacIntyre.
Defenceman Jacson Alexander made his Broncos and WHL debut, picking up an assist on Sissons’ goal. The 16-year-old signed with Swift Current just before Christmas. The Victoria product, who was the 17th overall selection in the 2016 Bantam Draft, had been playing for the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies.
The Broncos remain without three players taking part in the World Junior Hockey Championship in Buffalo. Defenceman Artyom Minulin (Russia) plus forwards Aleksi Heponiemi (Finland) and Tyler Steenbergen (Canada) have all been away from the team for weeks now. Swift Current also scratched forwards Owen Blocker and Ethan Regnier due to illness.
The Bridge City Bunch had 15-year-old Koen MacInnes as the backup goaltender to Nolan Maier. Ryan Kubic was left behind in Saskatoon with a flare-up of the lower-body injury that sidelined him for three weeks in late November through early December. Otherwise, the Blue and Gold scratches were the same as Thursday, defenceman Libor Hajek (Team Czech, World Juniors), right wingers Kirby Dach (upper body) and Caleb Fantillo (lower body) plus left winger Kyle Crnkovic and defenceman Majid Kaddoura (coaches decisions).
Shots on goal were even between the Blades and the Broncos at 32 apiece. That means Nolan Maier made 29 saves for his seventh consecutive win in goal for Saskatoon while 17-year-old Swift Current rookie Joel Hofer made 28 stops. Former Blade Logan Flodell watched after starting six straight games in net for Swift Current.
The busiest individual shooters were Hebig for Blades with seven shots while fellow 20-year-old forward Matteo Gennero had six shots to pace the Broncos.
The Bridge City Bunch scored twice on six power play chances and held the Broncos without a man advantage tally on just three opportunities.
Swift Current won 38 of 62 faceoffs with captain Glenn Gawdin winning 17 of 24 trips to the faceoff dot. Brandon Machado captured possession on four of six draws for Saskatoon.
