It was a very unplayoff-like game Tuesday as the Saskatoon Blades out-scored the Red Deer Rebels 8-5 to take a stranglehold 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final.
Red Deer had to play 17-year-old affiliate Taylor Tabashniuk in goal after Chase Wutzke was forced to the sidelines with an Upper Body injury suffered during a Game 2 goal crease collision with Bridge City Bunch forward Easton Armstrong, who was suspended because of the incident. Egor Sidorov (pictured) registered his first career post-season hat-trick, centre Trevor Wong had a goal and three assists while Brandon Lisowsky had a goal and two helpers, giving that line 10 points, while Charlie Wright, Rowan Calvert and Lukas Hansen chipped in with single tallies for the Blue and Gold who had trouble with the never-say-die work ethic of the Rebels. The Blades never trailed, but Red Deer battled back to tie the score twice before Saskatoon eventually out-scored them. While Tabashniuk stopped 31 of 38 shots in his W-H-L debut, Bridge City Bunch head coach Brennan Sonne made a goaltending change with his team leading 5-4 late in the second period, replacing 17-year-old rookie Evan Gardner with 19-year-old veteran Austin Elliott. While Gardner allowed four goals on 20 shots, Elliott was solid in stopping 16 of 17 Rebels’ drives. The Blue and Gold can finish off the series in the minimum four games on Wednesday in Red Deer. 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, Post-Game Show comments from Sonne and Wong plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Saskatoon Blades 8 at Red Deer Rebels 5 – Status: Final
Tuesday, April 16, 2024 – Peavey Mart Centrium – Red Deer, AB
Saskatoon 3 3 2 – 8
Red Deer 2 2 1 – 5
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Wright 2 (James, Minten), 2:36. 2, Red Deer, Carson Latimer 5 (Ollie Josephson, Mayo), 2:50. 3, Saskatoon, Calvert 1 (Volotovskii, Watterodt), 7:31. 4, Saskatoon, Sidorov 5 (Wong, Andrusiak), 7:51. 5, Red Deer, Carson Birnie 3 11:36 (SH). Penalties-Samuel Drancak Rd (tripping), 10:34.
2nd Period-6, Red Deer, Quentin Bourne 1 (Jean Jr., Luke Vlooswyk), 2:16. 7, Saskatoon, Wong 3 (Lisowsky, Gardner), 2:57. 8, Saskatoon, Sidorov 6 8:15. 9, Red Deer, Lind 4 (Lindgren, Formanek), 15:02. 10, Saskatoon, Sidorov 7 (Lisowsky), 18:35. Penalties-Lisowsky Sas (high sticking), 6:57; Larson Rd (slashing), 6:57; Lindgren Rd (holding), 9:09; Babcock Sas (slashing), 12:39.
3rd Period-11, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 3 (Wong, Molendyk), 6:27 (PP). 12, Red Deer, Brigley 2 11:58 (SH). 13, Saskatoon, Hansen 1 (Wong), 18:40 (EN). Penalties-Babcock Sas (delay of game), 3:01; Thurston Rd (cross checking), 5:37; Formanek Rd (major-spearing, game misconduct), 9:18.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 14-12-13-39. Red Deer 10-14-13-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 1 / 4; Red Deer 0 / 2.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Gardner (20 shots-16 saves); Elliott (17 shots-16 saves). Red Deer, Tabashniuk (38 shots-31 saves).
A-4,411
Referees-Taylor Burzminski (83), Kevin Webinger (6).
Linesmen-Michael Roberts (87), Logan Parsons (140).
