Carson Lambos put together a performance he won’t forget and it elevated the Winnipeg ICE to a big victory on their home ice.
Kicking off a weekend home set with the Saskatoon Blades, Winnipeg scored two early goals and never looked back in a 4-1 win.
Lambos himself ended the game with two goals on just three shots and, finishing at plus-1. The second overall pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft now has seven points in nine games in his rookie campaign.
“We were able to do the job that we wanted tonight,” said Carson Lambos, courtesy of Winnipegice.ca. “These are some big games for us within our division. It’s huge.”
On the power play early in the game, it took the ICE just 2:14 to open the scoring. That’s when Connor McClennon snapped his third of the season past Nolan Maier as Winnipeg went up 1-0. Michal Teply earned the lone assist.
Less than one minute later, the ICE added to their lead. At the 3:06 mark, Lambos got his first of two on the night. The marker was also on the power play as Winnipeg started 2-for-2 on the man advantage. Brad Ginnell had the primary assist.
“We scored on the power play because we got people in front of the goalie. Our net-front presence was great,” said James Patrick, head coach courtesy of winnipegice.ca. “We put pucks behind their defenders and we didn’t have many turnovers early.”
“Throughout the game, we did a lot of good things,” continued Patrick. “We had a lot of puck possession and we made the smart plays.”
Leading 2-0 after 20, Winnipeg kept it coming in the second with another early goal. Just 1:05 into the midway frame, Chase Hartje scored an unassisted goal to give Winnipeg a 3-0 lead.
On a power play of their own, the Blades did trim the deficit a short time later. WHL veteran Riley McKay scored what was already his fifth goal of the season. Aidan De La Gorgendiere and Eric Florchuk got the assists.
However, that was as close as Saskatoon got and Lambos made sure of it. With just more than three minutes left in the second, the rookie scored his fourth of the season and second of the game to give Winnipeg a 3-1 lead. Import player Nino Kinder and Reece Harsch notched the helpers.
“I felt good out there. Sometimes you get chances and sometimes you don’t. I did and I was able to capitalize on them,” said Lambos after the game.
No more goals were scored the rest of the way as Winnipeg won their fifth game of the season and their first on home ice.
“Getting the first one out of the way on home ice is huge for us,” continued Lambos.
The two clubs will battle again on Sunday night — same place and time — to wrap up the weekend.
“It’ll be a challenge for our team, but we’re a good team and I know we’re up to it,” concluded Lambos.
Winnipeg has now won two games in a row. They are also 2-0 against Saskatoon and they’re 4-0-1 against teams from Saskatchewan.
Winnipeg is 5-4-1 and sit at third in the East Division. Saskatoon, meanwhile, is second in the East with a 7-5-0-1 record.
ICINGS:
- Winnipeg held Saskatoon to just 15 shots and Jesse Makaj made 14 saves.
- The ICE chased Nolan Maier from the net after 40 minutes. He gave up all four goals. Koen MacInnes came in and was 6-for-6.
- Matthew Savoie was back in the lineup and had one shot. He has 20 points in seven games this season with the Rink Hockey Academy Prep team.
- Saturday’s game was the first of three straight between the teams. They meet Sunday and next weekend back in Saskatoon.
