GAME 22 RECAP | Blades blanked 4-0 by Warriors
Moose Jaw, SK – The Saskatoon Blades were shutout for the first time this season 4-0 Thursday at the Moose Jaw Events Centre against the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Warriors netminder Jackson Unger picked up his first shutout of the season, stopping all 32 Blades shots. 20-year-old Blades forward Brandon Lisowsky and several of his teammates did find ways to get the puck past Unger but were denied by posts and crossbars instead.
Blades goalie Evan Gardner saw his three-game win streak come to an end, dropping his record to 10-5-1-0 on the year.
The Blades remain first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a 14-6-1-1 record, four points ahead of the second-place Medicine Hat Tigers.
NHL Draft-eligible forward Lynden Lakovic opened the scoring for the Warriors with under five minutes remaining in the first period. The 6-foot-4 winger buried his team-leading 11th goal of the year on a 2-on-1 rush to give the Warriors a one-goal lead after 20 minutes.
20-year-old Warriors forward Rilen Kovacevic scored a pair of goals in the second period to make it 3-0 after 40 minutes. The Kelowna, BC product scored his eighth of the season on an unassisted breakaway 8:37 into the frame, and padded Moose Jaw’s lead less than three minutes later. Kovacevic is scoring at a point-per-game in his final WHL season with 18 points (9G, 9A) in as many games.
The Blades outshot Moose Jaw 12-8 in the third, but Warriors forward Max Finley sealed the deal with an empty-net goal in the final ten seconds of the game to make it 4-0.
What’s Next?
The Blades travel to Medicine Hat for their second meeting of the week against Gavin McKenna and the Tigers.
Puck drop is 8:00pm CST.
