When the listless-looking Saskatoon Blades needed a shot of offence on Tuesday, who answered the call?
Martin Fasko-Rudas!!
The 19-year-old Slovakian winger notched a natural hat-trick in a 2:20 span of the third period to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 Bridge City Bunch lead. While former Blue and Gold sniper Gary Haden forced overtime, Fasko-Rudas’ efforts were not in vain as Chase Wouters scored just 36 seconds into overtime to give the Blades a 4-3 victory over the Victoria Royals before 3,020 fans at SaskTel Centre.
The victory gave Saskatoon (24-19-4) five of a possible eight points from a busy four games-in-five nights stretch of play and moved them within two points of Brandon for third place in the W-H-L’s East Division. Koen MacInnes made 28 saves…several of the highlight variety, including a stop on Tarun Fizer’s short-handed breakaway when the score was 2-1 for Victoria in the third period. The Royals are 0-2-1 on their East Division road trip and 0-4-1 in their last five games as they head into Prince Albert Wednesday night.
The Bridge City Bunch…who got three assists from Kyle Crnkovic, a pair of helpers from former Victoria defenceman Scott Walford and an assist for a two-point night for captain Wouters…out-shot the Royals 32-31. Fasko-Rudas’ second goal was the first tally this season on a two-man advantage for the Blue and Gold, as well as ending a run of 15 overall power plays without scoring. The Blades get a couple of days off before a weekend set of games on back-to-back nights…visiting Moose Jaw Friday and hosting Lethbridge Saturday. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Victoria Royals 3 at Saskatoon Blades 4 (OT) – Status: Final OT
Tuesday, January 28, 2020 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Victoria 0 1 2 0 – 3
Saskatoon 0 0 3 1 – 4
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Schmidt Sas (delay of game), 7:51; Miller Vic (tripping), 12:46; Rhinehart Sas (roughing), 18:50.
2nd Period-1, Victoria, Schultz 8 (Tracey, Miller), 5:14. Penalties-Golder Vic (roughing), 8:18; Schmidt Sas (roughing), 8:18; Schneider Sas (hooking), 13:32; Herauf Vic (holding), 15:11.
3rd Period-2, Victoria, Derungs 13 (Cutler, Herauf), 2:41 (PP). 3, Saskatoon, Fasko-Rudas 7 (Kucerik, Daley), 6:13. 4, Saskatoon, Fasko-Rudas 8 (Walford, Crnkovic), 7:45 (PP). 5, Saskatoon, Fasko-Rudas 9 (Crnkovic, Wouters), 8:33 (PP). 6, Victoria, Haden 18 (Smith), 12:17. Penalties-Kneen Sas (high sticking), 0:55; Prowse Vic (high sticking), 6:57; Fizer Vic (boarding), 7:29.
OT Period-7, Saskatoon, Wouters 21 (Crnkovic, Walford), 0:36. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Victoria 10-12-9-0-31. Saskatoon 9-11-11-1-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Victoria 1 / 4; Saskatoon 2 / 4.
Goalies-Victoria, Evanoff 6-18-3-0 (32 shots-28 saves). Saskatoon, MacInnes 9-5-1-0 (31 shots-28 saves).
A-3,020
Referees-Aydon Brown, Mike Langin (67).
Linesmen-Tanner McGregor (55), Andrew Sawatsky (123).
