Ice return to top of WHL

Winnipeg wins ninth straight, ready for post-season grind

The Ice celebrate a goal from Jack Finley (#26).

The Winnipeg Ice jumped back on top of the WHL mountain and showed they are ready for the post-season grind.

On Wednesday night before 2,808 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Ice won their ninth straight contest downing a game Saskatoon Blades side 4-2 in a WHL regular season clash. The Ice jumped back to the top of the overall WHL standings with a 45-9-3-2 mark having picked up standings points in 13 straight contests posting 11 wins, one overtime loss and one shootout setback over that run of games.

Winnipeg sits two points up on the 45-12-2-1 Edmonton Oil Kings for top spot overall in the WHL with one game in hand.

Ice centre Zachary Benson (#9) battles to the puck from his net.

During their nine-game winning streak, the Ice are showing they have the depth and they are capable of grinding out wins in tight checking contests. They are doing their best to show they are ready to make a long run through the WHL playoffs.

The most impressive part of the Ice victory on Wednesday was the fact they picked up a win without their two best players in the lineup.

The Ice were without star centres Matthew Savoie and Conor Geekie, because they were in Kitchener, Ont., taking part in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Savoie and Geekie are both in their 17-year-old seasons, and both are pegged to be selected early in the next NHL Entry Draft.

Jack Finley scored the first goal for the Ice on Wednesday.

Savoie leads the Ice in scoring with 78 points coming on 28 goals and 50 assists in 56 games. He is also a plus-39 in the plus-minus department.

Geekie sits fourth in team scoring recording 59 points coming on 19 goals and 40 assists in 54 games, while posting a plus-33 rating.

Besides beating the Blades, the Ice slipped past the Prince Albert Raiders 3-2 in overtime at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert without Savoie and Geekie.

In Wednesday’s clash with the Blades, the Ice got out to a hot start.

They had the game’s first big scoring chance at the 7:26 mark of the opening frame. Ice star left-winger Mikey Milne got in alone in front of the Saskatoon goal, but he was robbed on a backhand shot thanks to a glove save by Blades overage star netminder Nolan Maier.

Jakin Smallwood had the second goal for the Ice on Wednesday.

Just before the midway point of the first, the Ice broke through on the scoreboard as power forward Jack Finley blasted home his 21^st of the season off a midrange shot to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The Ice kept the pressure coming. A few minutes after their opening goal, Ice centre Evan Friesen had a dangerous scoring chance off a rebound, but he was turned away on a kick save by Maier.

With 2:10 remaining in the first, Ice right-winger Jakin Smallwood set up in the left slot and one-timed home a setup pass from linemate Zachary Benson to increase the Ice’s advantage to 2-0.

In the finals seconds of the opening frame, the Blades had a quality scoring chance from import right-winger Egor Sidorov. Working on the power play, Sidorov drove a shot from the left boards on goal, but he was denied by the glove hand of sophomore netminder Daniel Hauser.

Tristen Robins had the Blades first goal on Wednesday.

The Ice held a 13-4 after 20 minutes and could have had a bigger lead had it not been for the play of Maier.

In the second, the Ice showed they could withstand a pushback from a quality foe, as the Blades came out with some fire. With 7:14 remaining in the second, Blades star overage centre Tristen Robins netted his 31^st goal of the season to cut the Ice lead to 2-1.

Inside the final 76 seconds of the second, the Blades had a couple of big chances to even the score while working on the power play. Blades standout left-winger Brandon Lisowsky was denied on a drive from the left slot.

Chase Wheatcroft scored the third goal for the Ice on Wednesday.

In the dying seconds of the frame, Blades sophomore left-winger Vaughn Watterodt had a point blank chance, but he was stopped by Hauser.

At the 2:06 mark of the third, the Ice extended their lead to 3-1 when 19-year-old left-winger Chase Wheatcroft deflected home a point shot from defenceman Omen Harmacy.

Down two goals, the Blades didn’t go away. Just under six minutes after the Ice went up 3-1, the Blades cut the lead to 3-2 when rookie right-winger Tyler Parr roofed home a shot from the front of the Winnipeg goal after receiving a sweet setup pass from Watterodt.

Tyler Parr scored the Blades second goal on Wednesday.

From that point, the Ice were able to tighten up their checking to prevent the Blades from getting the equalizer.

With 26 seconds remaining in the third, Ice overage defenceman Nolan Orzeck sealed the win shooting home a long-distance empty-net goal from his own blue-line to round out the 4-2 final score in Winnipeg’s favour.

Hauser stopped 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Ice. Nolan Maier turned away 25-of-28 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades (33-22-3-1).

In the win over the Blades, 10 different players picked up at least one point for the Ice. 

Veteran offensive-defenceman Carson Lambos collected two assists and was the only Ice player to have a multi-point night.

Carson Lambos recorded two assists for the Ice on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s clash was also the last regular season encounter between the Ice and Blades, and the Ice claimed six out of those eight head-to-head contests.

Saskatoon had a solid effort against the Ice. The Blades will continue their quest to lock up a playoff spot when return to action on Friday when they host the Regina Pats (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

“The Bridge City Bunch” can lock up a playoff berth by collecting four more standings points.

The Ice get back at it on Saturday when they host the Prince Albert Raiders (7 p.m. local time, Wayne Fleming Arena).

The Ice celebrate their win on Wednesday.

Winnipeg is ready to win right now. Considering a sizable group of their best players are in the 17-year-old age group, the Ice might be at the start of a run where they will be a force in the WHL for some time to come.

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