Blades edge Wheat Kings to end busy weekend

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This article was published 04/02/2024 (592 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Egor Sidorov scored twice as the Saskatoon Blades edged the Brandon Wheat Kings 3-1 in Western Hockey League action atSaskTel Centre on Sunday afternoon.

Vaughn Watterodt scored the other goal into an empty net for first-place Saskatoon (36-9-2-3), while Luke Shipley sniped forBrandon (24-19-5-1) in front of a crowd of 5,388.

Brandon general manager and head coach Marty Murray was pleased with his group’s work despite the outcome.

“It was a really good effort,” Murray said. “I thought that was easily our best game of the weekend and best game in a while.Especially given the circumstances, we played a real strong game. It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t score.”

Brandon beat the visiting Red Deer Rebels 4-1 on Friday and then scored in overtime to top the host Swift Current Broncos 5-4on Saturday in the team’s second three-in-three weekend in the last 10 days.

Saskatoon buzzed off the opening faceoff and 76 seconds into the game, Sidorov knocked down a clearing attempt andbackhanded it by Brandon goalie Carson Bjarnason. Brandon’s starters were never able to leave the ice after getting hemmedin.

Brandon tied the game 12 minutes 16 seconds into the period off a power move by Caleb Hadland. The second-year forwardcut towards the net against two Blades and as he was hauled down, Shipley jumped into the rush and popped the loose puckpast Saskatoon goalie Evan Gardner to tie the game.

Saskatoon restored the lead 6:29 into the second period after Rylen Roersma earned a double minor in a scrum at the Bladesnet. Sidorov scored his second goal 10 seconds into the ensuing first power play when he one-timed a shot that Bjarnason gota piece of but found its way into the net.

Brandon had a brief five-on-three in the second period, but their inability to win face-offs hurt them as they struggled tocreate any kind of sustained pressure. Even so, Brandon fired 21 shots at Gardner in the middle frame without beating him.

Murray said there were a couple of reasons for their inability to score. “It was execution and missing net a lot too,” Murraysaid. “We had a lot of really good looks where we missed the net. Their goalie played well and it’s one of those nights whenyou stick with it. We did everything we wanted to accomplish and had a lot of chances and just couldn’t come up with a goal.It’s disappointing.”

Both teams had good chances in the first 18 minutes of the third period but neither was able to find the mesh. The WheatKings pulled Bjarnason for an extra attacker with 80 seconds remaining: Their best chance came off a shot by Andrei Maliavanthat got through to the net with a pair of Wheat Kings looking for the rebound, but Gardner was able to corral the puck. With12.9 seconds remaining, Watterodt capitalized on a Saskatoon three-on-one to score into the empty net to put the game awayfor the hosts.

“I think if you would have asked me last week if we would get four out of six against three really tough opponents and be rightthere to the buzzer to get five or six, I think we would have taken it,” Murray said. “We don’t like losing but it would have beeneasy — you almost have a built-in excuse with the schedule and travel on back-to-back weekends with three-in-threes — butI thought our guys showed a tremendous amount of character tonight.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without D Quinn Mantei (lower body, day to day) and F Matt Henry (healthy scratch) … Brandonforward Nick Johnson slid hard into the side boards in the first period and didn’t return … Saskatoon defenceman JohnBabcock took a rare form of delay-of-game penalty by firing the puck over the far glass from his own end … Bjarnason made32 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Gardner stopping 33 shots for the Blades … Brandon went 0-for-2 on the power play, withSaskatoon scoring once in two chances … Brett Hyland led the Wheat Kings with six shots on net … The game took a speedytwo hours, 13 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Saskatoon won 25-19 … Brandon next sees action when the EdmontonOil Kings visit Westoba Place on Wednesday.

 

SUNDAY

Blades 3, Wheat Kings 1

First Period

1. Saskatoon, Sidorov 40 (Wright, Wong) 1:16.

2. Brandon, Shipley 7 (Hadland) 12:16.

Penalties — None.

Second Period

3. Saskatoon, Sidorov 41 (Wong, Molendyk) 6:29 (pp).

Penalties — Roersma Bdn (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct) 6:19, Babcock Sas (unsportsmanlike conduct) 6:19, Saunderson Sas (holding) 13:39, Babcock Sas (delay of game) 15:16, Klippenstein Bdn (charging) 18:35, Elick Bdn (roughing) 18:35, Wong Sas (slashing) 18:35.

Third Period

4. Saskatoon, Watterodt 8 (Minten, Wong) 19:47 (en).

Penalties — None.

Shots on goal by

Brandon 6 21 7 — 34

Saskatoon 11 13 11 — 35

Goal — Brandon: Bjarnason(L, 16-10-3-1). Saskatoon: Gardner (W, 14-5-0-2).

Power plays (goals-chances) — Brandon: 0-2; Saskatoon: 1-2.

Referees — Troy Murray, Bryce Sebastian. 

Linesmen — Brayden Glynn, Justin Primeau.

Attendance — 5,388 in Saskatoon.