Four goals in a 7:33 span of the second period allowed the Saskatoon Blades to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead on the way to a 5-3 victory over the Warriors Saturday in Moose Jaw.
The win allowed the 18-10-3 Bridge City Bunch to split a home-and-home series with the 16-7-5 Tribe, take a 2-1 lead in the season series with Moose Jaw in which the road team has won all three games, were victorious for the eighth time out of 10 games in which they have played on back-to-back nights, and moved the Blue and Gold back into sole possession of second place in the East Division.
Zach Huber, Brandon Schuldhaus, Gary Haden and Josh Paterson (pictured) scored the goals between 8:24 and 15;57 of the middle frame…former Warrior defenceman Schuldhaus and Haden scored 16 seconds apart to break a 2-2 tie. Riley McKay notched the other goal as the Blades opened the scoring for the seventh time in eight games. Goaltender Dorrin Luding won for the second time at Mosaic Place in five weeks, stopping 24 shots as Moose Jaw out-shot Saskatoon 27-25.
“In the second period we came back and really poured it on…and kept doing so for the entire period, which was quite nice” said Blades’ assistant coach Jerome Engele.
Referees Fraser Lawrence and Alan Scott called only one penalty…a third period charging minor to Kirby Dach of the Bridge City Bunch. That led to the last goal of the game on a Tribe power play. After that, the Blue and Gold made sure they didn’t give away a two-goal lead over the final 13:24…something they had done in four of their last five games, including Friday’s 3-2 setback at SaskTel Centre to the Warriors.
“I thought we played a good, steady road game,” explained Engele when talking about the Blades’ play in the third period. “It was a real exciting game for us, it’s a great game to watch as a fan I would think.”
Saskatoon finishes off their third stretch of three games-in-three days Sunday when they host the #1 ranked team in the C-H-L, the 28-1-1 Prince Albert Raiders at 4 p.m. It’s the Blades’ “Teddy Bear Toss” game. The broadcast on 98-COOL signs on at 3 p.m. with the Sardinia Family Restaurant pre-game show. Following is the official summary from the W-H-L…
Saskatoon Blades 5 at Moose Jaw Warriors 3 – Status: Final
Saturday, December 8, 2018 – Mosaic Place – Moose Jaw, SK
Saskatoon 1 4 0 – 5
Moose Jaw 2 0 1 – 3
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, McKay 5 (Robins, Luding), 5:28. 2, Moose Jaw, Popple 7 (Taphorn, Clouston), 6:03. 3, Moose Jaw, Taphorn 8 (Brook, Kjemhus), 17:34. Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-4, Saskatoon, Huber 6 (Machado, Bafaro), 8:24. 5, Saskatoon, Schuldhaus 4 (Florchuk), 10:58. 6, Saskatoon, Haden 8 (Paterson, Wouters), 11:14. 7, Saskatoon, Paterson 9 15:57. Penalties-No Penalties
3rd Period-8, Moose Jaw, Langan 21 (Woo, Almeida), 6:36 (PP). Penalties-Dach Sas (charging), 5:23.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 6-16-3-25. Moose Jaw 9-7-15-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 0; Moose Jaw 1 / 1.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Luding 4-2-1-0 (31 shots-28 saves). Moose Jaw, Salmond 9-3-2-1 (22 shots-17 saves); Evanoff 7-4-2-0 (3 shots-3 saves).
A-3,219
Referees-Fraser Lawrence (10), Allan Scott (38).
Linesmen- , Tarrington Wyonzek (137).
