Offence Continues to Roll in Pats Victory

First Period
The opening period was certainly a tighter affair than previous contests between the Pats and Blades.  The defensive struggle saw few shots and even fewer solid scoring chances.  Late in the period, the Blades would find themselves in some penalty trouble down two men in the final minute.  Saskatoon would kill off the first penalty, but with seconds left on the clock, Morgan Klimchuk found Chandler Stephenson all alone in front for the one-timer and a 1-0 Pats lead after 20 minutes.  The Pats outshot the Blades 9-4 in the first.

Second Period
The Pats opened the floodgates in the middle frame.  After killing off a penalty, Stephenson and Klimchuk broke in on a 2-on-1.  Stephenson lifted a saucer pass to Klimchuk who put it behind Alex Moodie for the 2-0 Pats lead.  Five minutes later, Colten Mayor was left open in front of the Blades goal, grabbed a Lane Scheidl rebound and lifted the puck into the goal to make it 3-0.  Penalties would come into the favour of the Pats once again as they went on to score three powerplay goals in a row to round out a 6-0 lead after two periods.  Kyle Burroughs, Stephenson and Lane Scheidl scored the markers with Stephenson a part of all of them to make it a six point night through forty minutes with the Pats outshooting the Blades 27-9.

Third Period
Things calmed down in the final stanza as the Pats took more of a defensive stance while the Blades took back control of the momentum in the third.  Saskatoon got on the board early in the final period when Darren Dietz broke the goose-egg, jamming the puck behind Matt Hewitt.  The Blades made the score a more respectable when they cashed in on the powerplay.  With Lane Scheidl in the box for roughing, Matthew Pufahl hammered the puck behind Hewitt to make it a 6-2 final.  The Blades put eleven shots on goal in the third, but the Pats still owned the shot clock, 31-20 to lead the shot count for their fourth straight game.

It was a special night for the Pats top line as Stephenson (2G, 4A), Klimchuk (1G, 4A) and Scheidl (1G, 2A) combined for thirteen points on the evening.  Klimchuk and Scheidl moved into a tie for 10^th in league scoring with 46 points on the season while Scheidl’s marker was his 20^th of the season.

Next Game: vs. Medicine Hat – Friday, January 4^th – 7 p.m. (CKRM)

Next Home Game: vs. Medicine Hat – Friday, January 4^th – 7 p.m. (CKRM)