Rockets rally for 3-2 win after tiebreaking shootout
On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Saskatoon Blades mascot found time to catch some sleep during a lengthy video review with 1:58 remaining in the third period in a WHL regular season contest between the host Blades and the visiting Kelowna Rockets. While the antics of the Blades mascot created some laughs, the outcome of the video review would ultimately not favour the home side.
With the Blades holding a 2-1 lead, the officials were trying to determine if the Rockets had scored the equalizer during a mad scramble around the Saskatoon net, where the play was blown dead after the goal was dislodged. The officials were trying to determine if the puck crossed the goal-line before the net came off its posts.
Eventually, the video review determined the puck had just gone into the Saskatoon net before the net itself came fully off its posts resulting in a good goal. Rockets offensive-defenceman Will Sharpe was given credit for scoring the equalizer.
Most at the SaskTel Centre among the paid attendance of 2,514 spectators rained down boos. Due to a blizzard happening in Saskatoon on Wednesday, a lot of the ticket buyers understandably no-showed for the contest.
The teams advanced into overtime locked in a 2-2 tie. Late in the overtime period, Blades 18-year-old defenceman Brayden Klimpke found himself alone on a breakaway, but he missed the net with his shot. A short time later, Rockets breakout star 18-year-old rookie netminder Harrison Boettiger made a huge left pad save off Blades 17-year-old right-winger Zach Olsen to force the contest to go to a tiebreaking shootout.
The Blades had dominated the three-on-three overtime session holding a 6-1 edge in shots on goal.
In the tiebreaking shootout, Rockets star 20-year-old centre Shane Smith scored the only goal by snapping a shot past Blades star netminder 19-year-old netminder Evan Gardner in the third round. Smith’s goal gave the Rockets a 1-0 victory in the tiebreaking session and a 3-2 overall win in the contest.
Boettiger proved to be a huge reason for the fact the Rockets, who will host the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – this coming May, pulled out the road triumph. He made 40 saves over the first 65 minutes of play and turned away all three shooters he faced in the shootout.
The Rockets improved to 16-11-3-1 with the win. They travel to Prince Albert on Friday to face the Raiders (22-5-4) at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. That will be the last game for both clubs before they head out on their respective Christmas breaks.
Gardner also had a huge night in getting saddled with the tough luck extra time setback. He made 33 saves over 65 minutes of play and stopped two-of-three shooters in the shootout.
With the extra time setback, the Blades record moved to 17-14-2-1.They now head off on their Christmas break. The Blades return to action on Saturday, December 27, for their Teddy Bear Toss Game hosting the Regina Pats (11-17-2-1) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
In Wednesday’s clash, the Rockets got on the scoreboard first on a goal from 18-year-old left-winger Levi Benson at the 8:37 mark of the opening frame.
Just over six minutes later, Blades standout 18-year-old centre Hayden Harsanyi evened things up at 1-1. Harsanyi proceeded to net his second of the contest and 10th goal of the campaign with 3:59 remaining in the second period to give the Blades their 2-1 edge.
That set the stage dramatics in the third period, overtime and the shootout.
Overall, the fans that made it to the SaskTel Centre saw a really compelling game. One tough break for the home side and a great development for the visitors on a late third period video review turned out to be the difference in the contest.
Pats get puck luck in 5-4 win over Raiders
Playing before 2,576 spectators at the Brandt Centre on Wednesday night, the host Pats slipped past the visiting Raiders 5-4 despite the fact the Raiders had a 38-23 edge in shots on goal. Pats 19-year-old netminder Marek Schlenker had a big night making 34 saves in the win as Regina improved to 11-17-2-1. Raiders 19-year-old netminder Dimitri Fortin turned away 18 shots as Prince Albert fell to 22-5-4.
The Raiders, who are rated third in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings, opened the game’s scoring at the 5:52 mark of the first period, when 18-year-old left-winger Oli Chenier put a between the legs shot to the top corner of the Regina net.
With 41.8 seconds remaining in the first, Pats 17-year-old right-winger Zachary Lansard fired home the equalizer that evened the score at 1-1. The two sides exited the opening 20 minutes locked in that 1-1 tie with the Raiders holding a 12-4 edge in shots on goal.
Raiders star offensive-defenceman Daxon Rudolph fired home a power-play goal just 1:33 into the second to put the visitors back in front 2-1. Before the second ended, the Pats received a power-play goal from Lansard and an even-strength tally from 20-year-old right-winger Caden Brown to head into the second intermission holding a 3-2 lead.
At the 4:50 mark of the third, Raiders 16-year-old rookie left-winger Connor Howe netted his second goal of the season to force a 3-3 tie.
The Pats responded getting an even-strength goal from captain Ephram McNutt and a power-play tally from 19-year-old centre Ellis Mieyette to jump ahead 5-3.
With 72 seconds remaining in the third, Raiders star 20-year-old captain Justice Christensen fired home his seventh of the campaign to trim the Regina lead to 5-4. The Raiders weren’t able to find another tally to force overtime.
Pats 18-year-old left-winger Connor Bear received a double minor for high-sticking with 4:30 remaining in the third, and Raiders 18-year-old rookie left-winger Owen Corkish was tabbed for a double minor for high-sticking with 3:34 remaining in the third. Both infractions will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.
The Pats now head out on their Christmas break. They return to action on Saturday, December 27, when they travel to Saskatoon to face the 17-14-2-1 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).
The Raiders return home to host the Kelowna Rockets (16-11-3-1) on Friday (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).
Tigers run winning streak to 10, other notes
On Wednesday playing before 3,006 spectators at Co-op Place, the Tigers won their 10th straight game downing the Brandon Wheat Kings 7-3. The Tigers win ends a seven game winning streak the Wheat Kings had been on.
Brandon scored the first goal in Wednesday’s clash coming off the stick of 17-year-old star centre Jaxon Jacobson just past the midway point of the opening frame. The Tigers pulled even at 1-1 just under two minutes later on a goal from 17-year-old rookie left-winger Noah Davidson.
Just 1:58 into the second period, 20-year-old centre Nicholas Johnson scored for the Wheat Kings to give them a 2-1 advantage.
The Tigers responded scoring three straight goals coming off the sticks of Kyle Heger, Liam Ruck and Ethan Neutens to take a 4-2 advantage at the 10:28 mark of the second.
Before the second ended, Wheat Kings 19-year-old centre Carter Klippenstein netted his 10th goal of the season to cut the Tigers lead to 4-3.
Medicine Hat proceeded to cruise to victory in the third scoring three times to round out the 7-3 final score. Captain Bryce Pickford, Tyson Moss and Jonas Woo all netted singles for the Tigers. Pickford’s tally was his 25th goal of the campaign, while Woo has a career-high 16 tallies on the season.
Carter Casey made 22 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers, who are rated ninth in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings. The Tigers improved to 22-6-3-2 to jump into first overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference by sitting one standings point ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders (22-5-4). The Raiders have two games in hand on the Tigers.
Jayden Kraus turned away 32 shots to take the setback in net for the Wheat Kings.
At the 7:15 mark of the second period, Wheat Kings 19-year-old rookie defenceman Max Lavoie took on Davidson in a fight.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday, December 27, when they travel to Lethbridge to face the 11-22-0-1 Hurricanes (6 p.m. local time, VisitLethbridge.com Arena).
The Wheat Kings get back at it on Friday when they travel to Calgary to take on the 17-9-3-1 Hitmen (1 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).
- In Calgary, import centre Andrei Molgachev collected four assists as the host Hitmen hammered the visiting Swift Current Broncos 9-2 on Wednesday. Caine Wilke, Kale Dach and Julien Maze all had two-goal nights for the Hitmen.
- In Kamloops, 18-year-old right-winger Savin Virk had the overtime winner, an assist and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department as his visiting Tri-City Americans edged the host Blazers 4-3. The Blazers held a 3-1 lead, but the Americans rolled off the last three goals of the contest to pull off the comeback.
- In Everett, 16-year-old star sophomore defenceman Landon DuPont had the winning goal, one assists and was a plus-two as his host Silvertips slipped past the visiting Wenatchee Wild 3-2. The Silvertips have won six straight and lead the WHL’s overall standings with a 26-3-2-1 mark. The Silvertips are rated first in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings.
- In Penticton, 20-year-old right-winger Brady Birnie netted a hat trick by scoring the final three goals to allow his Vees to down the visiting Prince George Cougars 5-2. The Vees now sport a 16-9-4-3 record in their first WHL season after moving up from the junior A ranks.
- On December 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on 16-year-old flag football star Adley Tomlenovich. In the piece, Tomlenovich talks about her journey in the sport as a quarterback. She also took up being the head coach for a Grade 6 female squad that plays in the 5 on 5 NFL Youth Flag Football circuit overseen by Saskatoon Minor Football. The piece on Tomlenovich can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images of the Saskatoon Hilltops winning their 24th CJFL championship. That post can be found by clicking right here.
If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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