Blades Fall 5-4 In Shootout
The Saskatoon Blades ended their two-game western road trip with 3 out of a possible 4 points as they fell 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday night to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
The Blades picked up a point in the game, despite trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes.
The Hurricanes broke things open in the first frame with Jay Merkley and Graham Hood scoring just over 2 minutes apart in the first period to make it a 2-0 game. Lethbridge held the shot edge 17-12 through 20 minutes over the Blades.
In the second, Saskatoon turned things around. They were outshot 15-10 in the period, but outscored the Hurricanes 3-0 to take their first lead of the game. Josh Nicholls got things going for the Blades at 2:45, scoring his 15th of the season and registering his 250th career WHL point. That marker moved him into a tie for 19th overall on the Blades all-time scoring list.
Saskatoon tied the game shortly after as a Dalton Thrower point shot found it’s way in to make it 2-2 at 8:05. At 14:44 the Blades completed the comeback, taking the lead as Adam Kambeitz jammed a puck home, scoring his 1st as a Blade to make it a 3-2 game.
Midway through the 3rd period Matej Stransky got the Blades the insurance goal to make it 4-2. His 5th of the season came as he finished off a nice 3 on 2 rush, taking a pass from Shane McColgan and firing it off the post and in.
But, the Hurricanes didn’t back down. Remi Laurencelle and Craig Leverton scored two goals just over two minutes apart in the final 5 minutes to tie the game. The game would head to overtime, where both team’s had chances, but couldn’t score.
In the shootout, the Blades top line of McColgan, Stransky and Nicholls all shot, but none of the players scored. Jay Merkley was the 3rd Hurricanes shooter, scored, and it held up as the winner to make it a 5-4 final.
Andrey Makarov took the loss for the Blades, despite making 40 saves in the game. Ty Rimmer stopped 24 shots to win for the Canes.
The Blades will now head home before taking on the Regina Pats next Friday night on BMO Ultimate Fan Night at the Credit Union Centre.
