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| Egor Sidorov had a goal and three assists for the Blades on Saturday. |
On Saturday playing before 3,201 spectators at Westoba Place in Brandon, the Blades forward unit of centre and captain Trevor Wong, import right-winger Egor Sidorov and left-winger Brandon Lisowsky, who is a NHL Entry Draft selection of the Toronto Maple Leafs, combined for three goals and six assists to lift Saskatoon past the host Wheat Kings 4-0. The win in the WHL regular season encounter allowed the Blades to end a three-game losing streak where they were outscored 13-2 by their opponents and failed to score on nine power-play chances.
The win saw the WHL leading Blades, who are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, improve to 43-12-2-3. The Wheat Kings, who have lost three straight, fell to 29-25-5-1 to remain two points up on the Prince Albert Raiders (29-27-1-3) for sixth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.
When the Blades were on their three-game skid, they held a combined 104-63 edge in shots on goal over their opponents. Offensively, the Saskatoon side went into a collective funk, and the team’s coaching staff started mixing up the lines to create a breakthrough on the scoreboard.
Going into Saturday’s clash with the Wheat Kings, the Blades reunited Wong, Sidorov and Lisowsky as a forward line. Since Wong was acquired in a trade with the Kelowna Rockets before the start of the 2021-22 campaign, he has played on a line with Sidorov and Lisowsky for the bulk of the time since arriving in Saskatoon.
Their chemistry as a trio proved to be enough to give the Blades offence a kick start. Sidorov posted one goal and three assists, Lisowsky had two goals and one assist and Wong has a pair of helpers.
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| Brandon Lisowsky had a pair of goals and an assist for the Blades. |
At the 3:35 mark of the second, Lisowsky passed the puck to Sidorov shortly after breaking into the Brandon zone. Sidorov dangled past Wheat Kings 19-year-old defenceman Luke Shipley and put home backhand shot for his 45th goal of the campaign to push the Blades lead out to 2-0.
Saturday’s game had its share of rough stuff too. At the end of the second, Blades veteran right-winger Vaughn Watterodt, who turned 20-years-old in February, took on Wheat Kings 18-year-old defenceman Quinn Mantei in a fight. That seemed to foreshadow more high tensions later on in the contest.
The Blades proceeded to increase their advantage to 3-0 scoring on the power play at the 6:55 mark of the third. Lisowsky gathered a rebound in front of the Brandon net from a shot taken by Sidorov and popped home his second of the night to give the visitors their three-goal edge.
Just 80-seconds after that tally, another fight broke out this time between Blades veteran left-winger Tyler Parr, who turned 19-years-old in January, and Wheat Kings defenceman Rhett Ravndahl, who turned 19-years-old in February.
Things proceeded to get a little crazier on the ice just 18 seconds after that bout. Wheat Kings tough guy Matt Henry proceeded to cross check a Blades player in the head and followed that up by spearing Watterodt.
Henry was assessed a minor for cross-checking, a major for spearing and a game misconduct. These infractions will be automatically review by the WHL office for a possible suspension. Henry is a repeat offender having been suspended on four previous occasions this season for a total of 13 games.
On the ensuing power play, Blades star 19-year-old centre Fraser Minten tipped home a pass from Sidorov at the left side of the Brandon net to round out the 4-0 final in favour of the Blades.
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| Trevor Wong had a pair of assists for the Blades on Saturday. |
Saskatoon went 2-for-5 on the power play, while Brandon failed to score on four chances with the man advantage.
The Blades dressed 15-year-old associate player call up Ryley Budd as their backup goalie on Saturday as Evan Gardner was out with an undisclosed ailment. Budd has been playing in Calgary with the Edge School’s under-18 prep team.
The Wheat Kings return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers (7 p.m. local time, Co-op Place).
The Blades are off until this coming Friday when they host the Tigers (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).
Hurricanes hold off Raiders, other notes
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| Hayden Pakkala (#22) scored twice for the Hurricanes on Saturday. |
On Saturday in a WHL regular season clash, the visiting Hurricane built up a 4-1 lead after two periods and held off a Raiders charge in the third to post a 4-3 victory to the disappointment of most of the 2,394 spectators in attendance at the Art Hauser Centre. The Hurricanes have won their last three straight, while the Raiders saw their three-game winning streak come to an end with Saturday’s setback.
Hurricanes breakout star 19-year-old centre Brayden Edwards scored to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at the 3:33 mark of the opening frame. Raiders star 17-year-old right-winger Ryder Ritchie answered back just under two-and-a-half minutes later to even the score at 1-1.
At the 8:14 mark of the first, Raiders rookie import right-winger Matej Kubiesa was given a major penalty for checking from behind and a game misconduct. Those infractions will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.
The Hurricanes cashed in at the tail end of that power play with a goal coming off the stick of former Raiders centre Hayden Pakkala to give the visitors a 2-1 edge. Before the opening frame came to an end, Pakkala added his second of the contest to give the Hurricanes a 3-1 advantage.
Lethbridge netted the lone goal in the second when 20-year-old right-winger Dylan Sydor tallied on the power play at the 6:12 mark of the frame.
The Raiders proceeded to mount a big push back in the third. Just 77 seconds into the frame, rookie import left-winger Krzysztof Macias scored for the host side to cut the Hurricanes lead to 4-2. Macias added his second of the contest with 6:40 remaining in the third to further trim Lethbridge’s advantage to 4-3.
The Raiders pressed hard in the final two minutes of the contest but were unable to net the equalizer.
Harrison Meneghin stopped 37 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Hurricanes. Max Hildebrand turned away 24 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders.
The Hurricanes converted on 2-of-3 power-play chances on Saturday, while the Raiders didn’t have a single opportunity with the man advantage.
Saturday’s game marked the lone time the Hurricanes were able to beat the Raiders in the four head-to-head encounters between the two sides in the current campaign.
The Raiders fell to 29-27-1-3 to remain seventh in the WHL’s Eastern Conference one standings point ahead of the Hurricanes, who improved to 28-26-5. The Hurricanes hold down eight place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference sitting five points ahead of the ninth place Calgary Hitmen (24-27-7-1).
The Hurricanes return to action on Wednesday when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers (7 p.m. local time, Enmax Centre).
The Raiders get back at it this coming Friday when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).
- On Friday, Red Deer Rebels general manager, president and owner Brent Sutter announced the team and head coach Derrick Walser mutually agreed to part ways. The move came after the Rebels dropped a 7-5 decision at home to the Swift Current Broncos. The Rebels were 30-22-2-6 with Walser as head coach. The Rebels named Dave Struch the team’s interim head coach. Struch was behind the Rebels bench when they downed the visiting Calgary Hitmen 2-1 on Saturday.
- On Saturday, Jagger Firkus scored twice to power his Moose Jaw Warriors to a 4-2 victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Washington. The Warriors 19-year-old centre leads the WHL in scoring with 105 points coming off 49 goals and 56 assists to go with a plus-21 rating in the plus-minus department. Firkus has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Seattle Kraken.
- Jordan Keller and Logan Bairos each had a goal and an assist to push the host Kamloops Blazers past the Vancouver Giants 3-2 on Saturday. The Blazers improved to 20-34-3-3 with the win, which means every team in the WHL has won at least 20 or more games.
- James Stefan scored 27 seconds into overtime to deliver the host Portland Winterhawks to a 5-4 victory over the Victoria Royals on Saturday. The Royals held a 3-1 lead early in the third period before the Winterhawks rallied for the win. The Winterhawks lead the B.C. Division with a 41-15-2-1 mark.
- Riley Heidt scored at the 2:03 mark of overtime to deliver the host Prince George Cougars to a 5-4 win over the Spokane Chiefs. The Cougars trailed 4-2 but scored twice in the final 63 seconds of the third period to force overtime. Prince George leads the B.C. Division and the Western Conference with a 41-15-1-3 record.
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