Somebody’s positive streak was going to end Friday and the Saskatoon Blades made sure that dubious distinction belonged to the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The Bridge City Bunch scored three unanswered goals in the third period to snap a 3-3 tie, forged by back-and-forth scoring over the first two frames, and recorded a 6-3 triumph over Moose Jaw before 6,257 fans at SaskTel Centre. It was the Blue and Gold’s fifth straight win and ended the Warriors’ run of games picking up points in the standings at eight. Brandon Lisowsky and Alexander Suzdalev (pictured) each scored twice for the Blades while Tyler Parr and Easton Armstrong added singles. Armstrong’s goal put Saskatoon ahead for the first time in the game at 2:59 of the third period while Suzdalev’s first goal was of the “Michigan” or lacrosse-style with four seconds left in the first period to tie the score at 2-2. That was a key goal, coming just 21 seconds after Atley Calvert gave Moose Jaw their second of three, one-goal leads in the contest while the Warriors were short-handed. Lisowsky added an assist for a three-point outing while Parr had a helper to go along with his goal plus captain Trevor Wong, defenceman Tanner Molendyk and centre Fraser Minten all chipped in with two helpers. For a 33rd consecutive game, the Bridge City Bunch out-shot an opponent, 42-26 on this occasion. The Blue and Gold reduced their Magic Number to clinch the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as the overall first place finishers in the W-H-L to five points over Portland. The Blades will attempt to pare that Magic number further on Saturday when they visit Moose Jaw. CJWW’s broadcast begins at 6:45 p.m. with the Palliser Rooms E-Q-3 Cutting Edge Pre-Game Show and the play-by-play at 7 o’clock. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game Show comments from head coach Brennan Sonne, Parr and Minten plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Moose Jaw Warriors 3 at Saskatoon Blades 6 – Status: Final
Friday, March 15, 2024 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Moose Jaw 2 1 0 – 3
Saskatoon 2 1 3 – 6
1st Period-1, Moose Jaw, Mateychuk 17 (McKenzie, Yager), 0:46. 2, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 37 (Saunderson, Minten), 6:51. 3, Moose Jaw, Calvert 45 19:35 (SH). 4, Saskatoon, Suzdalev 8 (Parr, Wright), 19:56 (PP). Penalties-Armstrong Sas (high sticking), 3:44; Parr Sas (tripping), 10:56; Wilson Mj (tripping), 18:58; Schuurman Mj (face off violation), 19:56.
2nd Period-5, Moose Jaw, Firkus 51 (Mateychuk, Yager), 2:10. 6, Saskatoon, Parr 11 (Babcock, Volotovskii), 5:10. Penalties-Kovacevic Mj (roughing), 7:56; Watterodt Sas (delay of game, roughing), 7:56; Babcock Sas (holding), 13:04; Mateychuk Mj (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 13:37.
3rd Period-7, Saskatoon, Armstrong 30 (Wong, Lisowsky), 2:59. 8, Saskatoon, Suzdalev 9 (Wong, Molendyk), 10:22. 9, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 38 (Minten, Molendyk), 11:49. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Moose Jaw 12-9-5-26. Saskatoon 10-14-18-42.
Power Play Opportunities-Moose Jaw 0 / 4; Saskatoon 1 / 3.
Goalies-Moose Jaw, Unger 34-15-0-2 (42 shots-36 saves). Saskatoon, Gardner 19-5-0-2 (26 shots-23 saves).
A-6,257
Referees-Mike Langin (67), Wyatt Rapsky (119).
Linesmen-Ridge Brooks (161), Riley Carriere (72).