A one night-only re-branding didn’t change what is ailing the Saskatoon Blades as the Lethbridge Hurricanes handed the Bridge City Bunch a 4-1 loss Friday night at SaskTel Centre.
Wearing special jerseys while paying homage to their expansion Western Canadian Baseball League cousins, the Saskatoon Berries, the Blue and Gold dropped a third straight game on home ice in similar fashion – out-shooting and out-playing the opponent, but being thwarted by a hot goaltender while the opponent was opportunistic with their scoring chances. The Blades opened the scoring as Easton Armstrong finished Trevor Wong’s 2-on-1 pass just 69 seconds into the second period. But, by the end of the middle frame, Brayden Edwards’ two goals had the Canes ahead and they rode the 32-save netminder of rookie goaltender Brady Smith to victory. Those included two stops off Brandon Lisowsky late in the second period and off Fraser Minten in the third frame that required video review to confirm. Saskatoon has been out-scored 13-2 during the three-game skid, despite out-shooting the opposition 104-63, as their record dropped to 42-12-5. That prompted a players-only meeting about 45 minutes after the game ended. The Bridge City Bunch are scheduled to make a lengthy, one-day road trip Saturday to play Brandon. Game time is 7 o’clock with CJWW’s broadcast beginning at 6:45 p.m. with the Palliser Rooms E-Q-3 Cutting Edge Pre-Game Show. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s Friday broadcast plus Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Brennan Sonne and Wong plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Lethbridge Hurricanes 4 at Saskatoon Blades 1 – Status: Final
Friday, March 1, 2024 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Lethbridge 0 2 2 – 4
Saskatoon 0 1 0 – 1
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Tschigerl Let (tripping), 6:26; Armstrong Sas (charging), 18:05.
2nd Period-1, Saskatoon, Armstrong 28 (Wong, Suzdalev), 1:09. 2, Lethbridge, Edwards 24 (Wormald), 11:32. 3, Lethbridge, Edwards 25 (Marques, Chadwick), 17:30 (PP). Penalties-served by Armstrong Sas (too many men), 16:11.
3rd Period-4, Lethbridge, Pakkala 11 (Andresen, Tschigerl), 8:02. 5, Lethbridge, Marques 26 (Chadwick), 19:56 (EN). Penalties-Pakkala Let (high sticking), 5:55.
Shots on Goal-Lethbridge 6-9-6-21. Saskatoon 10-14-9-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Lethbridge 1 / 2; Saskatoon 0 / 2.
Goalies-Lethbridge, Smith 3-6-1-0 (33 shots-32 saves). Saskatoon, Elliott 25-7-2-1 (20 shots-17 saves).
A-62
Referees-Alex Homer (49), Brian MacDonald (7).
Linesmen-Tanner McGregor (55), Levi Schutz (110).
