Ugly Warriors OT goal deals Blades near fatal blow

Moose Jaw takes massive 3-0 lead in WHL first round series

The Warriors celebrate Cordel Larson’s OT winner.

Cordel Larson’s overtime winner on an unassuming play drove a dagger through the hearts of the Saskatoon Blades.

With Larson’s visiting Moose Jaw Warriors locked in a 2-2 tie with the host Blades in overtime, the overage right-winger ended being the beneficiary of a positive-bounce break. The Weyburn, Sask., product skated with the puck from behind the Blades net and circled out of the left corner along the boards of the Saskatoon zone.

After getting a stride length in front of the icing line, Larson threw the puck to the centre of the Saskatoon goal. The puck deflected in off a Blades player to deliver the Warriors to a 3-2 victory in Game 3 of a WHL first round playoff series at the 9:40 mark of the extra session.

The Warriors start embracing Cordel Larson (#34) after his winner.

Larson’s goal disappointed most of the 3,544 spectators at the SaskTel Centre outside of a sizable vocal contingent of Warriors fans, who made the trek up for the contest from Moose Jaw.

The Warriors also take a stranglehold 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. That has turned out to be the norm for the first round of this year’s WHL playoffs, because six teams hold 3-0 leads in the eight first round best-of-seven series that are being played.

Moose Jaw will have a first crack to close out its series with Saskatoon in Game 4 on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Needing a win to get back into the series, the Blades came storming out of the gate on Tuesday and scored the contest’s first goal at the 3:20 mark of the opening frame while working on the power play. Blades right-winger Noah Boyko took a shot from the right side boards that got tipped home by centre Jayden Wiens to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Carl Tetachuk made 27 saves in goal for the Warriors.

Saskatoon kept storming after that tally and held a 10-1 edge in shots on goal 10 minutes into the contest. Warriors star overage netminder Carl Tetachuk came up with a number of big saves to prevent the Blades from assuming an even bigger lead.

The Warriors proceeded to find their legs as the opening frame drew to a close, and they gave their goaltender some offensive support.

With 1:45 remaining in the first period, Warriors right-winger Eric Alarie got the puck at the right point of the Saskatoon zone. Alarie deked around a Blades forward, got close on the Saskatoon goal and sniped home his first marker of the post-season to even the score at 1-1.

Moose Jaw proceeded to go ahead 2-1 at the 4:43 mark of the second on a goal from import left-winger Martin Rysavy. Rysavy one-timed home a shot from the front of the Saskatoon goal for his first tally of the post-season.

Nolan Maier made 34 saves for the Blades.

Warriors right-winger Jagger Firkus made a beauty pass from the left corner of the Blades zone to set up Rysavy’s goal.

The Warriors kept building the pressure after Blades left-winger Vaughn Watterodt was given a double minor for slew-footing. That infraction will automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Blades killed off the double minor thanks to some outstanding saves by Blades star overage netminder Nolan Maier.

During that kill, Maier robbed Warriors centre Ryder Korczak on a backdoor chance, made a sprawling pad save on Alarie and stoned Firkus on a dangerous midrange drive.

Jayden Wiens (#9) scored the Blades first goal on Tuesday.

The Warriors kept bringing the pressure for the rest of the frame but were unable to beat Maier. Moose Jaw held a 16-4 edge in shots on goal in the second period.

The Warriors appeared set to close out the contest in the third period doing a pretty strong job clamping things down defensively.

That all changed with 3:21 remaining in the frame. Rysavy received a double minor for boarding after ramming Blades defenceman Ben Saunderson into the boards.

With 44.5 seconds remaining in the third and Maier pulled for an extra attacker, Blades standout left-winger Brandon Lisowsky banged home the equalizer during a net scramble in front of the Moose Jaw goal to even the score at 2-2 and force overtime.

Eric Alarie scored the Warriors first goal on Tuesday.

In overtime, the Blades were sloppy with the puck when they had control of it. Maier stoned Firkus on a rush down the right wing after Firkus got the puck when the Blades weren’t strong in handling it.

The veteran puckstopper proceeded to turn away Warriors left-winger Robert Baco on a drive from the front of the Saskatoon goal after the Blades turned the puck over in their own zone.

That set the stage for the Warriors to take the contest on Larson’s greasy overtime winner.

Maier turned away 34 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Carl Tetachuk stopped 27 shots to pick up the win in net for the Warriors.

Blades star overage centre and captain Tristen Robins returned to his team’s lineup after missing the previous six games due to injury. He was listed as day-to-day in the Blades previous three contests with a lower body injury.

Brandon Lisowsky scored with 44.5 seconds in the third to force OT.

In Game 3 against the Warriors on Tuesday, Robins only took the ice for shifts on the power play, and he didn’t look effective. The Clear Lake, Man., product didn’t seem to be as speedy as he normally is and didn’t display much power when he tried to shoot the puck.

Robins still made see-eye passes in the offensive zone, but he wasn’t the same offensive threat that saw him finish second in Blades regular season scoring this season with 78 points coming off 33 goals and 45 assists in 62 games to go with a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department.

The Warriors have been without star defenceman Daemon Hunt so far for the series, because he is out week-to-week with a lower body injury.

The Blades fans cheer Brandon Lisowsky’s game tying goal.

Going forward in the series, the Blades face a long uphill battle. 

In the history of the WHL dating back to the circuit’s start in 1966-67, only two teams have rallied back to win a best-of-seven series having trailed the set 3-0.

The Spokane Chiefs, who were guided by Mike Babcock as head coach, trailed the Portland Winterhawks 3-0 before rallying to take a first round series 4-3 in 1996. 

The Kelowna Rockets fell behind the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0 in 2013 before battling back to claim that first round series 4-3.

Tristen Robins returned from injury to only play on the power play.

Saskatoon trailed the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-0 in a second round series in the 1990 WHL Playoffs before rallying back to tie the set at 3-3. In a series deciding Game 7 in Lethbridge, the Blades fell 4-3 in overtime with defenceman Neil Hawryluk netting the winning goal for the Hurricanes.

With the way the series between the Blades and Warriors has played out, Moose Jaw has to be given full marks for taking a 3-0 lead in the series, and it surprising considering the Blades won six out of eight head-to-head contests in the regular season between the two sides.

The Warriors 81 standings points and 37-24-4-3 record in the regular season just edged the Blades for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Blades finished fifth in the Eastern Conference with 80 standings points coming off a 38-26-3-1 record.

The Warriors celebrate their overtime win on Tuesday.

It feels almost certain that Saskatoon is stuck in a hole that it won’t be able to dig out of.

EDITOR’S NOTE - The original version of this column credited Atley Calvert with scoring the overtime winner for the Warriors. Calvert was originally listed as the overtime goal scorer on the WHL’s online game summary. That was an error, and it has been corrected on the WHL’s official summary. A big thanks goes out to Warriors play-by-play voice and director of hockey administration James Gallo for the hard work he put in to ensure the information on the overtime winner was corrected.

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