The Saskatoon Blades knew that the Moose Jaw Warriors would be desperate to leave SaskTel Centre with a split of the first two games of their W-H-L playoff series and would bring a top effort against them Saturday night…which they did. The good news for the Blue and Gold was that goaltender Nolan Maier (pictured) was more than up to the challenge!
Max Gerlach scored twice, giving him three in the first two games, including the winning goal with 9:55 remaining in the third period as the Bridge City Bunch downed the Warriors 3-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final. Kirby Dach added an empty-net tally while Carson Denomie was the only Moose Jaw player to beat Maier on a third period power play that tied the score at 1-1 for almost five minutes before Gerlach’s winner.
Although the final shots on goal indicated that the Blades had the territorial edge in the game, a 30-22 advantage for Saskatoon in front of 6,022 fans, it was Maier who made a handful of “5-star” saves to keep the Warriors at bay. The 18-year-old Yorkton product denied Keenan Taphorn in the first period, Denomie twice in the second frame and was at his athletic best to turn back Justin Almeida and Tate Popple in the third period.
“It’s massive,” explained Bridge City Bunch defenceman Dawson Davidson with regards to how important it is for the Blue and Gold to win the first two games at home. “The common theme (Saturday) night was protecting home ice. We knew they were going to have a response game after (Friday) night (a 3-2 Blades’ overtime victory). They came out really hard, but I think we did a good job weathering their storm at the start of the game. It took a little while to find our legs, which we have to improve our starts, but it feels great to go up. (However), the job is not finished yet, we’ll regroup (Sunday) and Monday and get back to work.”
The series resumes with Games 3 and 4 Tuesday and Wednesday at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Moose Jaw Warriors 1 at Saskatoon Blades 3 – Status: Final
Saturday, March 23, 2019 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Moose Jaw 0 0 1 – 1
Saskatoon 0 1 2 – 3
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-1, Saskatoon, Gerlach 2 (Wouters, Davidson), 11:55. Penalties-served by Alarie Mj (too many men), 2:34; Haden Sas (cross checking), 18:14.
3rd Period-2, Moose Jaw, Denomie 1 (Brook, Langan), 5:07 (PP). 3, Saskatoon, Gerlach 3 (Davidson, Harsch), 10:05. 4, Saskatoon, Dach 1 (Florchuk, Schuldhaus), 19:24 (EN). Penalties-Langan Mj (slashing), 0:53; McKay Sas (cross checking), 0:53; McKay Sas (high sticking), 3:23; Davidson Sas (holding), 7:04; Brook Mj (tripping), 16:17.
Shots on Goal-Moose Jaw 11-6-5-22. Saskatoon 9-8-13-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Moose Jaw 1 / 3; Saskatoon 0 / 2.
Goalies-Moose Jaw, Evanoff (29 shots-27 saves). Saskatoon, Maier (22 shots-21 saves).
A-6,022
Referees-Chris Crich (20), Kyle Scrivens (77).
Linesmen-Devan Thiessen (94), Darrell Surminski (37).
