In Wednesday’s lone contest at the Subway WHL Hub Centre, the first place Saskatoon Blades faced off with the Winnipeg ICE in a battle between two of the superpowers of the East.
The Blades, who had yet to lose in regulation looked to continue their franchise-record start. The ICE looked to break the Blades streak and get one of their own going.
Saskatoon started Nolan Maier in goal who was perfect to start the season. Maier was fresh off tying Tim Cheveldae’s Blade record for career wins (85) and was looking to make his own history. Winnipeg went with Gage Alexander in goal. He came into the game with a 2-1-0-0 record, a 2.33 goals-against-average and a .908 save percentage.
The ICE went into the game with five injured players and needed to dress seven defensemen due to it. The Blades were without captain Chase Wouters and Rhett Rhinehart as both have been suspended.
Saskatoon’s only blemish on the season was an overtime loss at the hands of Winnipeg. The March 17th game saw Owen Pederson and Peyton Krebs score for the ICE while Colton Dach replied for the Blades.
Saskatoon took a 3-1 lead into the third period and held off Winnipeg in a 3-2 win. The win extended the Blades franchise-record start to 9-0-1-0. Maier continued to be perfect on the season at 7-0-0-0. His win gave him 86 which broke the Blades franchise record.
Here is what went down.
First period
A cautious start to this one as both teams were testing the waters. Each team managed just a pair of shots through the first five minutes.
The Blades took a minor penalty at 8:40 of the first that gave the ICE the first man-advantage of the contest. Saskatoon killed it off.
Winnipeg struck shortly after the powerplay expired. 30 seconds after the penalty ended Anderson MacDonald one-timed a shot past Maier to give the ICE a 1-0 lead at 11:10.
Just over four minutes later the Blades ties it. Brandon Lisowsky connected on a one-timer that squeaked through Alexander to make it 1-1 at 16:12 of the first.
Through evenly played 20 minutes the score was tied at 1-1. Saskatoon took a 13-11 shot advantage into the first intermission.
Second period
Kyle Crnkovic gave the Blades a 2-1 lead at 3:24. His wrist shot from the slot beat the ICE goalie low glove side.
Winnipeg got into penalty trouble early in the second frame.
Evan Patrician needed some repairs after taking a high stick from Conor Geekie which resulted in a double minor 4:04 into the second. Saskatoon was unable to convert as Winnipeg killed it off.
Winnipeg took another minor at 9:08.
Dach made the ICE pay. His seventh goal of the season gave the Blades a 3-1 lead just 40 seconds into the powerplay.
Both goalies made incredible saves in the game, within minutes of each other. Alexander stopped the Blades on a 2-on-1 as he got his blocker out to make a great save. Maier made an amazing glove save as he came across to rob an ICE player.
Saskatoon had an 11-10 shot advantage in the frame and 24-20 overall.
Despite the even play, the Blades had a 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
Third period
The ICE pulled to within one at 7:14 of the third period. Connor McClennon found the loose puck in a scramble and jammed it past Maier to make it 3-2.
The Blades held on for the 3-2 win.
Just notes: this was the first game with fake crowd noise being pumped into the Brandt Centre. Nolan Orzek took an innocent-looking check in the second period and was forced to leave with what looked like a leg injury. Maier (29 saves) was picked as the game’s first star. Zachary Benson (1A) got second and Crnkovic (1G) got third-star honors.
