Three former Thunderbirds have bragging rights Wednesday after the Saskatoon Blades edged Seattle 4-3 Tuesday night in front of 3,037 fans at SaskTel Centre.
Rookie left winger Kyle Crnkovic posted a goal and two assists to pace the Bridge City Bunch while goaltender Dorrin Luding is one of the ex-T-Birds, now with the Bridge City Bunch. The 19-year-old stopped 32 shots for his first-ever win in Saskatoon.
“It was really nice to be able to play at home,” said Luding, who had made just one previous start at SaskTel Centre and only nine starts in total behind 17-year-old Nolan Maier…the reigning W-H-L Goaltender-of-the-Week. “I was just happy to get a win, my first win at home, so it was very exciting for me.”
The other former Seattle players now in Blue and Gold are defencemen Brandon Schuldhaus and Reece Harsch.
Eric Florchuk scored the winning goal with 2:40 remaining in the second period, off a great pass from 16-year-old defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere. Josh Paterson, on the power play, and captain Chase Wouters also scored for the 26-12-5 Blades. It was the fourth straight home win…all in 2019..and gave Saskatoon at least one point in each of their last eight games at SaskTel Centre.
Seattle fell to 1-2-0 on their current six-game East Division road trip and 12-21-4 overall for the season. The T-Birds head north to Prince Albert Wednesday night. The Bridge City Bunch returns to action Friday when they welcome Calgary. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Seattle Thunderbirds 3 at Saskatoon Blades 4 – Status: Final
Tuesday, January 8, 2019 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Seattle 2 1 0 – 3
Saskatoon 2 2 0 – 4
1st Period-1, Seattle, Ashton 1 (Davidson), 6:35. 2, Saskatoon, Crnkovic 4 (Florchuk), 15:24. 3, Saskatoon, Paterson 14 (Crnkovic, Malysjev), 17:30 (PP). 4, Seattle, Volcan 15 (Bauer, Wedman), 19:24. Penalties-Wouters Sas (inter. on goaltender), 1:49; Tyszka Sea (slashing), 15:47.
2nd Period-5, Seattle, Wedman 13 (Volcan), 4:36. 6, Saskatoon, Wouters 8 (Gerlach, Davidson), 13:49. 7, Saskatoon, Florchuk 11 (De La Gorgendiere, Crnkovic), 17:20. Penalties-Davidson Sea (roughing), 3:55; McKay Sas (roughing), 3:55; served by Mount Sea (too many men), 8:41.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Wedman Sea (major-fighting), 6:33; Wouters Sas (major-fighting), 6:33; Rybinski Sea (high sticking), 10:28; Crnkovic Sas (tripping), 12:26.
Shots on Goal-Seattle 12-15-9-36. Saskatoon 12-6-14-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Seattle 0 / 2; Saskatoon 1 / 3.
Goalies-Seattle, Schwebius 1-5-1-0 (32 shots-28 saves). Saskatoon, Luding 5-4-1-0 (36 shots-33 saves).
A-3,037
Referees-Fraser Lawrence (10), Brian MacDonald (7).
Linesmen-Tanner McGregor (55), Devan Thiessen (94).
