BLADES DOUBLE UP TIGERS 6-3
With the Lethbridge Hurricanes losing 4-2 to the Red Deer Rebels, the Tigers had a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a win against the Saskatoon Blades. The Blades wouldn’t be an easy challenge though as they’ve been red hot going 18-1-1-0 over their last 20 games. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they would have to wait a little longer to clinch a playoff spot as they fell to the Blades 6-3 on Saturday night.
The game remained scoreless until Darren Dietz scored his 22nd goal of the season shortly after the midway point of the first period. The Blades would add another goal to their lead before the end of the frame. Josh Nicholls scored shorthanded with just over a minute remaining to give the Blades a 2-0 lead heading into the intermission. The goal was his 43rd of the season.
The Blades continued to put points on the board in the second period. Brenden Walker and Nick Zajac both found the back of the net midway through the period to give the Blades a comfortable 4-0 lead. The goals were their 29th and 9th, respectively. Curtis Valk would make sure that the Blades weren’t too comfortable heading into the second intermission. With 2:25 remaining in the period, Valk scored his 43rd goal of the season from Hunter Shinkaruk and Tyler Lewington to cut the lead to 4-1.
Josh Nicholls opened the third period with his second shorthanded goal of the game to reinstate the Blades’ four goal lead. The Tigers would continue to battle hard though and ended up capitalizing on the power play 40 seconds later. Boston Leier scored his 16th of the season from Elgin Pearce and Hunter Shinkaruk. The goal gave Leier a new career high for goals. Unfortunately for the Tigers, a few minutes later the Blades struck again on a power play of their own. This time it was Brett Stovin scoring his 10th of the season to make it a 6-2 game. The Tigers would add another goal before the end of the game but it was as close as they would come as the Blades would take the game 6-3. Boston Leier scored his second goal of the game and 17th overall from Zach Hodder and Miles Koules with 5:10 remaining in the game.
Cam Lanigan got the start in goal for the Tigers. He allowed six goals against on 34 shots. Andrey Makarov was in goal for the Blades. He made 41 saves for his 36th win of the season.
On the power play the Tigers went 1 for 4, while killing off 3 of 4 Blades’ power play opportunities.
Earls Three Stars of the Night:
1) Josh Nicholls – Saskatoon Blades
2) Nick Zajac – Saskatoon Blades
3) Darren Dietz – Saskatoon Blades
The Tigers’ next game is Saturday, March 9th against the Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre. Game time is 6:00 PM (MST) and can be heard live on CHAT 94.5 FM at tigershockey.com or watched via webcast at livestream.whl.ca.
