The Saskatoon Blades’ special teams were exactly that on New Year’s Day, pacing the Bridge City Bunch to a 4-0 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings Monday at SaskTel Centre.

Backed by Austin Elliott’s 28-save goaltending for his second shutout of the season, the Blue and Gold received a trio of power play goals – from Brandon Lisowsky, Trevor Wong (pictured) and Rhett Melnyk – plus a short-handed tally from Tyler Parr. Wong added two assists, as did Egor Sidorov, while Lisowsky and Parr chipped in a helper as well. The victory, in front of 7,511 fans, improved the Blades’ record to 25-8-3 while extending their consecutive game streak of gaining points in the standings to 13 (10-0-3), ending Brandon’s three-game winning run and dropping their record to 19-13-5. Saskatoon, who has now won five consecutive home games over the Wheaties, prevailed despite only dressing 16 skaters, two under the maximum, with two of the players being affiliate call-ups. The Bridge City Bunch are off until the weekend when they travel to Regina Friday and Prince Albert Saturday. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game comments from head coach Brennan Sonne, Parr and Wong plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..

Brandon Wheat Kings 0 at Saskatoon Blades 4 – Status: Final
Monday, January 1, 2024 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK

Brandon 0 0 0 – 0
Saskatoon 2 2 0 – 4

1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 19 (Sidorov, Wong), 15:05 (PP). 2, Saskatoon, Wong 9 (Sidorov, Lisowsky), 18:09 (PP). Penalties-McQueen Bdn (major-fighting), 11:32; Saunderson Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd., major-fighting), 11:32; Hadland Bdn (inter. on goaltender), 13:47; Maliavin Bdn (holding), 16:36; Hyland Bdn (roughing), 18:46; Hansen Sas (roughing), 18:46; Maliavin Bdn (roughing), 19:57; Shipley Bdn (roughing), 19:57; Sidorov Sas (inter. on goaltender, roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 19:57; Wong Sas (roughing), 19:57.

2nd Period-3, Saskatoon, Melnyk 2 (Wright, Parr), 7:31 (PP). 4, Saskatoon, Parr 6 (Wong), 19:30 (SH). Penalties-Hyland Bdn (interference), 4:34; Mantei Bdn (cross checking), 5:29; Hyland Bdn (tripping), 7:18; Melnyk Sas (tripping), 8:58; Klippenstein Bdn (roughing), 11:36; Lisowsky Sas (charging), 18:01.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-James Sas (tripping), 5:37; Shipley Bdn (interference), 16:06.

Shots on Goal-Brandon 10-9-9-28. Saskatoon 17-11-11-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Brandon 0 / 5; Saskatoon 3 / 7.
Goalies-Brandon, Bjarnason 14-8-3-1 (39 shots-35 saves). Saskatoon, Elliott 16-4-2-1 (28 shots-28 saves).
A-7,511
Referees-Brody McGrath (73), Brian MacDonald (7).
Linesmen-Riley Carriere (72), Brayden Glynn (96).