The Saskatoon Blades got the bounce-back game they were looking for on Saturday night.
After losing their last two consecutive games at home, the Blades travelled to Regina, where they defeated the Pats 4-3 in a hard-fought overtime win.
It was clear in the first period that the teams were evenly matched. While the Blades had the advantage in puck possession and offensive-zone time, the best looks at the net early in the game were all from the Pats side, with Blades goaltender Ryley Budd making some stellar saves to keep the Pats off the scoreboard, including one where he absolutely robbed Ellis Mieyette on a power-play chance. Still, it would be the Blades who opened scoring about halfway through the first period when a pass from Cooper Williams was redirected into the net by the skate of Kazden Mathies just as a power-play in their favour expired.
Ending the first period down by one lit a fire under the Regina Pats. They started the second period with a much stronger effort, and the Pats duo of Cohen Klassen and Mathis Paull evened the score, with Klassen scoring and Paull earning the assist. Things continued to take a downward turn for the Blades as a nasty hit from Zach Olsen on the numbers of Ephram McNutt drew a boarding call and a power-play for the Pats. While the Blades were able to kill that penalty, Liam Pue was able to snipe one past Budd to give the Pats the go-ahead goal just as it expired. After falling behind on the scoreboard, the Blades continued to make a strong effort, but struggled to keep up with the Pats, who were boosted by their second goal. One or two questionable calls from the officials did not help matters and elicited a strong response from the Blades bench.
Things continued to look bleak for the Blades early in the third period, as Zachary Lansard opened scoring for the period in favour of the Pats on a deadly tic-tac-toe play from Klassen and Keets Fawcett. Things got heated after one stoppage of play about four minutes into the third when David Lewandowski and Keets dropped the gloves, but the linesmen tied the pair up before things could develop much further.
The Blades were finally able to move the needle back in their direction in the second half of the final period when a hard snapshot from Rowan Calvert made it under Marek Schlenker’s glove and found the mesh. This goal gave the Blades some much-needed momentum, culminating in a tie with just over three minutes left, thanks to a goal from Williams. Afterwards, play had very clearly shifted in favour of the Blades, who were spurred on further by their second goal of the period. A ferocious offence and the solid performance of Budd between the pipes meant the Blades would force overtime on the scrambling Pats.
As play proceeded with three-on-three overtime, Lewandowski missed a great chance early on, allowing the Pats to get their own shot on net. But Budd was able to keep the Blades in the game, and the blue-and-gold responded with a breakaway goal from Tristen Doyle to win the game and earn Doyle the second star of the game.
Blades return home tomorrow to host the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
