Williams delivers OT dagger for Blades

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This article was published 07/02/2025 (302 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a battle of teams with identical records, Cooper Williams scored in overtime as the Saskatoon Blades topped the injury-riddled Brandon Wheat Kings 3-2 in Western Hockey League action at Westoba Place on Friday.

Saskatoon (26-16-3-3) received its other goals from William James and Hudson Kibblewhite, with Jordan Gavin and Dylan Ronald replying for Brandon (25-16-4-3) in front of a crowd of 3,543.

Brandon skated without forwards Roger McQueen, Easton Odut, Joby Baumuller and Jaxon Jacobson plus defencemen Luke Shipley and Merrek Arpin as another wave of injuries has swept through the team.

As a result, 15-year-old forward Chase Surkan of Regina and defenceman Cameron Allard of Yorkton, who just turned 17, jumped into the lineup so Brandon could ice 17 skaters.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said help isn’t coming anytime soon so his players will have to make do with the guys on the ice.

“We’re going to be short staffed for a while,” Murray said. “Nobody is day to day. There were some good things but I thought we were a little soft in the game, especially some of our veteran forwards. You need those guys to drive the bus here on nights like this and I thought a few them were trying to find their game all night.

“At the end of the day, your best players have to be your best players and that’s hockey.”

Brandon went to the first power play of the game three minutes in after Saskatoon forward Kazden Mathies broke the stick of Wheat Kings defenceman Adam Belusko with a slash.

After Brandon’s first power-play unit failed to accomplish much, the second unit came on, moved the puck around in the Saskatoon zone and Gavin beat Blades goalie Ethan McCallum of Brandon over his blocker after Matteo Michels found him with a cross-ice pass.

“It was a nice pass by Mikey,” Gavin said. “We got the penalty kill running around so it was good to get that one.”

The busiest Wheat King through 20 minutes was Brandon goalie Carson Bjarnason, who stopped all 17 shots he faced.

The referees essentially took over the second period, calling eight minor penalty in the final 17 minutes.

The Blades finally beat Bjarnason 2:50 into the second period off the rush following a turnover in the neutral zone by the Wheat Kings when James elected to shoot and rang the puck off the far post and in. Brandon took a minor 16 seconds later and Saskatoon forward David Lewandowski rang a one-timer off the goal post but the puck stayed out this time.

The Wheat Kings restored the lead on an odd goal. The teams were playing four-on-four, and Brandon had possession in the Saskatoon zone.

The Blades penalty expired, but the Wheat Kings maintained possession like they were on the power play, and scored a shorthanded goal when Ronald received the puck up high, skated toward the net, and fired a shot under McCallum’s arm.

It was the fifth goal of his WHL career and fourth against the Blades.

But two minutes later, Ben Binder Nord took his second penalty of the period and the Blades power play struck when Kibblewhite deflected a shot by Cooper Williams into the net.

Both teams continued to have good chances, with Bjarnason denying the Blades on a two-on-one with his glove and Dominik Petr’s shot bouncing off the post after Brady Turko forced a turnover and got the puck over to him.

In the third period, McCallum made his best saves on a point-blank chance by Surkan three minutes in and a one-timer by Marcus Nguyen a minute later to keep the game deadlocked. At the other end, Bjarnason stopped a shorthanded breakaway by Rowan Calvert.

Brandon had a 11-1 lead in shots 7:26 into the final frame as the hosts came alive.

Gavin nearly scored his second of the game on a breakaway with eight minutes remaining, but as he fought off a Saskatoon defender his shot bounced off the crossbar.

In overtime, Brandon had the first chance, with Saskatoon taking over for the next 80 seconds, playing keep-away but not getting any Grade A chances. Brandon’s best chance came with 36.8 seconds remaining on a one-timer by Matteo Michels but McCallum caught it.

After a faceoff in the Saskatoon zone, Brandon turned the puck over near the blue-line and Williams streaked up the ice with Quinn Mantei in hot pursuit.

The big forward tucked the puck between the legs of Bjarnason with 17.2 seconds left as the Blades earned their second overtime winner of the season in Brandon.

It’s the seventh game Brandon has lost in overtime or a shootout this season.

“Puck possession is key and keeping puck possession is huge,” Murray said. “It seems like we get one chance and then it’s out the other way. You fall down and give up a breakaway so that’s frustrating in itself.

“We had a couple of two-on-ones (during regulation and overtime) when we made passes and handcuffed our teammate and couldn’t get pucks toward the net. You have to bear down on those opportunities. You only get one or two of those a game.”

Both Bjarnason and McCallum made 39 saves. Brandon went 1-for-4 on the power play, with Saskatoon scoring once in six chances.

“I think are some good parts and some bad parts” Gavin said of the game. “We can’t take that many penalties. At times we were really good but we gave up a lot of shots against so that’s putting a lot on Barney. I think we had some good moments but we have some stuff to improve on.”

Saskatoon head coach Dan DaSilva said it was a good effort by his team.

“I’m very proud of that group,” DaSilva said. “That’s a character win for us. I thought we had contributions from everyone, I thought everyone stepped up to the plate in a tough building to play in on the road. We were very resilient and stuck with it and got the positive result in the end.”

ICINGS: Saskatoon starting goalie Evan Gardner and forward Colten Worthington of Brandon were ill and didn’t make the trip Nguyen and Nolan Flamand led the Wheat Kings with five shots each on net … The game took two hours, 29 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Brandon won 41-29 … Portland Winterhawks overage defenceman Ryder Thompson of Russell has committed to Miami University (Ohio) for next season … The Wheat Kings have a busy 10 days ahead, visiting the Swift Current Broncos on Tuesday and the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday, and then hosting Moose Jaw on Saturday. All three games start at 7 p.m. The Wheat Kings then travel to Saskatoon for a matchup at 4 o’clock on Monday, Feb. 17, and host the Prince Albert Raiders a night later.

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