Donovan Buskey and the Regina Pats don’t have the Saskatoon Blades’ “number” any longer!
The Bridge City Bunch opened the scoring, were never headed and overcame adversity with a calm demeanour in doubling up the Queen City Kids 6-3 Friday in Regina. In the process, the Blue and Gold won for the first time in six Buskey starts in goal against them in his career, downed the Pats for the first time in three head-to-head meetings this season and…most importantly…reduced their Magic Number to clinch an Eastern Conference playoff spot to seven points over, both, Regina and Red Deer.
“We came out of the gate, we established our play right away, got a couple of goals. I think, if anything, you want to come out of (the first) period maybe with a little more separation in the game, based on how the period went and the chances that we had,” said Saskatoon assistant coach Ryan Keller when asked about being pleased with the team’s first period. “All in all, the effort was there and our competitiveness was where it needed to be.”
That didn’t mean the result was a foregone conclusion. The Blades led 2-1 after 20 minutes and extended the advantage to 3-1 in the second period…only to have the Pats tie the score with a pair of goals 16 seconds apart before the mid-point of the middle frame. But, the Bridge City Bunch would retake the lead for good when former Regina property Tristen Robins set up Riley McKay (pictured) with 2:18 remaining in the second stanza. Nolan Maier prevented the Pats from notching the equalizer in the third period before Alex Morozoff sealed the victory and Aidan De La Gorgendiere tallied into an empty net.
Robins…on a power play…Chase Wouters…while the Blue and Gold were short-handed…and Caiden Daley also tallied for the 29-22-5 Blades. McKay, Robins and De La Gorgendiere all ended up with a goal and an assist for Saskatoon, who out-shot Regina 36-27, while Scott Walford and Kyle Crnkovic chipped in a pair of helpers each,
The Blades finish off their 16th set of back-to-back games Saturday when they host the Swift Current Broncos at 7 o’clock at SaskTel Centre. Saskatoon looks for a sixth sweep of a back-to-back this season. The broadcast on 98-COOL begins at 6 with the Sardinia Family Restaurant pre-game show. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Saskatoon Blades 6 at Regina Pats 3 – Status: Final
Friday, February 21, 2020 – Brandt Centre – Regina, SK
Saskatoon 2 2 2 – 6
Regina 1 2 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Robins 28 (Walford, Crnkovic), 3:13 (PP). 2, Saskatoon, Wouters 23 7:03 (SH). 3, Regina, Nijhoff 13 (Evans, Wytinck), 10:22 (PP). Penalties-Smith Reg (hooking), 1:24; served by Schmidt Sas (too many men), 6:39; Rhinehart Sas (delay of game), 10:14; Wouters Sas (high sticking), 17:18; Krane Reg (slashing), 17:46.
2nd Period-4, Saskatoon, Daley 5 (Crnkovic), 6:10. 5, Regina, Smith 11 (Pratt, Dubinsky), 8:54. 6, Regina, Pratt 17 (Mitchell, Dubinsky), 9:10. 7, Saskatoon, McKay 18 (Robins, Walford), 17:42. Penalties-Dach Sas (cross checking), 1:16; Brook Reg (holding), 6:41; Mitchell Reg (holding), 18:47.
3rd Period-8, Saskatoon, Morozoff 8 (McKay, De La Gorgendiere), 16:49. 9, Saskatoon, De La Gorgendiere 4 19:58 (EN). Penalties-Krane Reg (tripping), 6:57; Dach Sas (slashing), 14:33; Evans Reg (high sticking, high sticking), 14:33; De La Gorgendiere Sas (hooking), 17:50.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 15-10-11-36. Regina 6-13-8-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 1 / 6; Regina 1 / 5.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Maier 17-17-1-3 (27 shots-24 saves). Regina, Buskey 8-10-0-0 (35 shots-30 saves).
A-4,707
Referees-Fraser Lawrence (10), Cody Beach (76).
Linesmen-Sean Dufour (50), Josh Long (126).
