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| Blades goalie Brock Hamm holds off the Silvertips. |
The Saskatoon Blades have reached the point where they never
like to lose, but when you are trying to cement a playoff berth, any point you
can get in the standings is important.
On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades were
looking to extend their winning streak to four games taking on the Everett
Silvertips, who are rated eighth in the Canadian Hockey League’s top 10
rankings. The two teams battled to a legitimate even 1-1 stalemate though 60
minutes of regulation time and a five-minute three-on-three overtime period.
In a four-round tiebreaking shootout, the Silvertips
prevailed 2-1 to take the contest 2-1 before 2,935 spectators. Riley Sutter
netted the winner in the shootout for the Silvertips, who also received a goal
from Orrin Centazzo in the tiebreaker session. Jesse Shynkaruk had Saskatoon’s
lone goal in the shootout.
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| The Blades and Silvertips scramble in front of the Everett net. |
The Blades saw their record move to 23-26-5-2. The point
they earned in the standings allowed them to sit three points up on the idle
Calgary Hitmen (20-26-8-2) for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the
WHL’s Eastern Conference.
While the Blades expectations of themselves have increased
despite the face they are missing six regulars due to injury, they still must
be mindful of the bigger picture.
Saskatoon is trying to nail down its first playoff berth
since 2013, when the Blades hosted that year’s Memorial Cup. After three years of
missing the post-season, the Blades are sitting in a playoff position as of Feb.
15. They were nowhere near such a spot this late in a campaign during the last
three years.
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| Centre Kirby Dach (#77) gets set in the offensive zone for the Blades. |
The Blades have beaten some of the WHL’s elite teams this
season including the Regina Pats, who top the WHL’s overall standings, and the
Central Division leading Medicine Hat Tigers. Against the Silvertips, it
appeared the Blades were poised to send another elite team down to defeat.
Saskatoon opened the scoring in the clash with Everett in
the first period, when underage centre Kirby Dach deflected home a point shot
from Blades overage defenceman Bryton Sayers.
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| Riley Sutter (#14) wins a draw for the Silvertips. |
For most of the night, the goalies stole the show.
Silvertips netminder Carter Hart, who played for Canada’s world junior team
this season, turned away 30 shots over 65 minutes of play to allow the
Silvertips to have a chance to win in a shootout.
Blades netminder Brock Hamm, whose WHL career has shown a resurgence
since the start of last December, stopped 28 shots over 65 minutes of work. Had
Hamm bested Hart, it would have marked his biggest personal win of the season.
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| The Silvertips celebrate their victory after a tiebreaking shootout. |
Every small step the Blades take in increasing their point
total in the standings gets them that much closer to hitting the ice in the
post-season.
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