And then there were three…as in undefeated Western Hockey League teams!
The Edmonton Oil Kings fell from the unblemished ranks, losing their sixth game of the 2018-19 regular-season, after five straight wins, as the Saskatoon Blades emerged with a 5-3 victory Wednesday night.
Eric Florchuk (pictured) tallied twice…once short-handed while his second goal was the eventual game-winner…as the Bridge City Bunch ended a mini, two-game losing streak.
“We got ourselves into a little bit of penalty trouble there in the second (period),” said Blades’ assistant coach Ryan Keller when talking about the Blue and Gold having a better middle frame. “But the guys hung on and battled and throughout those penalty kills I think we had a lot of guys that were getting some big blocks for us…all that stuff whoch the bench feeds off of.”
Brandon Machado, Dawson Davidson and Kirby Dach also tallied for 4-2-0 Saskatoon, who knotted the Oil Kings in shots on goal with 35 each. The Bridge City Bunch have Thursday off before playing a second straight game in an N-H-L building…visiting the Calgary Hitmen Friday at the Saddledome. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Saskatoon Blades 5 at Edmonton Oil Kings 3 – Status: Final
Wednesday, October 3, 2018 – Rogers Place – Edmonton, AB
Saskatoon 1 1 3 – 5
Edmonton 0 1 2 – 3
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Machado 1 14:25. Penalties-Gerlach Sas (slashing), 8:52; Vladimir Alistrov Edm (high sticking), 16:02; Fix-Wolansky Edm (cross checking), 19:29.
2nd Period-2, Saskatoon, Florchuk 2 (Dach), 10:40 (SH). 3, Edmonton, Fix-Wolansky 3 (Vladimir Alistrov, Jacson Alexander), 15:08 (PP). Penalties-David Kope Edm (slashing), 1:58; Schuldhaus Sas (slashing), 9:42; Schuldhaus Sas (boarding), 13:26; Robins Sas (holding), 15:35; McDonald Edm (interference), 19:24.
3rd Period-4, Saskatoon, Davidson 2 (Christensen, McKay), 2:12. 5, Saskatoon, Florchuk 3 (Dach, Malysjev), 3:36. 6, Edmonton, Fix-Wolansky 4 11:20. 7, Edmonton, Wyatt McLeod 1 (Jalen Luypen, Vladimir Alistrov), 17:03. 8, Saskatoon, Dach 4 (Schuldhaus), 18:24. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 13-9-13-35. Edmonton 11-15-9-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 4; Edmonton 1 / 4.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Maier 4-2-0-0 (35 shots-32 saves). Edmonton, Myskiw 3-1-0-0 (35 shots-30 saves).
A-3,846
Referees-Brayden Arcand (71), Cody Rude (54).
Linesmen-Deion Foster (128), Scott Fulmer (32).