Ice big line bashes Blades again

Saskatoon faces playoff elimination for sixth time

The Ice celebrate a goal from Zach Benson, centre.

The big line of the Winnipeg Ice floats like butterflies and stings like bees.

They have the Saskatoon Blades on the ropes in the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series. Now the question is can the Ice put the Blades down for the count?

The two teams that played the Blades in the WHL Playoffs before the Ice weren’t so lucky.

On Tuesday playing before 6,058 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Ice froze the Blades out of their home rink 5-1 holding a 34-18 edge in shots on goal. With the win, the Ice lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final 3-0. They can close things out in Game 4 on Wednesday set for 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Ice C Matthew Savoie (#93) shields the puck from Blades C Trevor Wong.

Winnipeg benefited once again from a strong performance from its top line consisting of centre Matthew Savoie, left-winger Zach Benson and right-winger Connor McClennon. They combined for three goals and four assists in the win. The line of Savoie, Benson and McClennon accounted for three of the first four goals scored by Winnipeg.

“I played with them a little bit last year and quite a bit this year,” said Savoie, who had a goal and two assists on Tuesday. “We’ve built a tonne of chemistry off the ice, and I think it just translates to on the ice.

Zach Benson had a goal and an assist for the Ice on Tuesday.

“We’re all so close. I think we just feed off the energy we bring. It is a lot of fun playing with those two for sure.”

Benson and McClennon each had a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s win.

The trio followed up on an impressive performance in Game 2 of the series this past Saturday in Winnipeg at the Wayne Fleming Arena, which the Ice claimed 6-2. In that contest, Savoie, Benson and McClennon combined for five goals and five assists in that victory.

With the loss, Saskatoon will face elimination from the WHL Playoffs for a sixth time. The current roster of the Blades has shown that it can be gutsy winning their five previous elimination games.

Connor McClennon had a goal and an assist for the Ice on Tuesday.

“We’ve had a lot of biggest games of the year this year,” said Blades gritty right-winger Justin Lies. “The mindset is just go out and work hard and fight to keep this together, just fight for another day and another road trip with the boys.

“No one is quitting in there, so we’re just going to go work our hardest. We’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

The Blades went to a series deciding Game 7 against Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats in the first round of the WHL Playoffs. Saskatoon took that contest by a 4-1 score at the SaskTel Centre before a sellout crowd of 14,768.

Justin Lies scored the Blades lone goal on Tuesday.

The Blades found themselves in a tougher spot in their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Red Deer Rebels. The Blades trailed that series 3-0, and in Game 4 in Red Deer, they trailed 2-0 after the first period and 2-1 after the second frame. Saskatoon was 20 minutes away from having its season come to an end.

The Blades rallied to take Game 4 by a 4-2 score and ultimately came back to claim a series deciding Game 7 by a 5-2 score again at the SaskTel Centre this time before 9,489 spectators. Saskatoon joined the 1996 Spokane Chiefs and the 2013 Kelowna Rockets as the only teams to lose the first three games in a best-of-seven series and rally to take the set.

Ben Zloty had three assists for the Ice on Tuesday.

“For us, we still get to come to the rink tomorrow,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne. “We’re still together.

“The strength of our team is heart and no quit and how close they are. When you get in these situations, that becomes tested immensely. We’ve passed that test a few times.

“I don’t think it is any different tomorrow, because as long as you’re breathing, you are fighting. We’re still breathing, so we are going to keep fighting.”

As for Tuesday’s clash between Saskatoon and Winnipeg, the Ice got rocking early scoring on the power play at the 2:46 mark of the opening frame to account for the first goal of the contest. McClennon had the puck at the left side boards in the Saskatoon zone and took a shot that deflected off Blades offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk right to Savoie in front of the goal. Savoie fired the puck home for his 11^th tally of the post-season to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Owen Pederson had a goal and an assist for the Ice on Tuesday.

Just over seven minutes later, the Ice’s top line struck again thanks to a positive bounce. Savoie was trying to pass the puck to the front of the Saskatoon net from the right corner of the Saskatoon zone.

Savoie’s pass deflected off Molendyk’s stick high in the air and landed perfectly for Benson to attempt a midrange shot from the front of the Saskatoon net. Benson drove home a shot between the legs of Blades netminder Ethan Chadwick to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage.

Just 45 seconds later, the Ice pushed their edge out to 3-0 with a goal from one of their other standout lines. Ice centre Zack Ostapchuk had the puck at the left side of the Saskatoon net and made a spinning backhand pass to centre the puck to linemate Evan Friesen.

Vladislav Shilo (#15) weaves his way past two Blades players.

Friesen wired home a midrange shot through a maze of bodies to give the visitors their three-goal edge. Winnipeg exited the opening frame with that 3-0 advantage holding a 12-5 edge in shots on goal.

“It was a bit of a different game,” said Ice head coach James Patrick. “I thought we had an outstanding first period and we just rode that to the win.

“Obviously, our power play is really clicking. I just thought we had a couple of really good shifts down low. The Ostapchuk line has been pretty effective.

“They’ve been our most effective line in the offensive zone.”

Just 73 seconds into the second period, the Ice’s top line scored for the second time on the power play. Savoie had the puck for a potential midrange shot from the front of the Saskatoon net.

Evan Friesen had a goal for the Ice on Tuesday.

He passed the puck to Benson on the right wing. Benson fed a pass across the face of the Saskatoon net to McClennon at the left side of the goal, and McClennon promptly buried his 11^th of the playoffs. Patrick was pleased with what his top line was able to do with the man advantage.

“Obviously on the power play, I thought they were outstanding,” said Patrick. “Zach Benson missed some time for us, and I think it has taken him awhile to get up to speed.

“He is our best player this year, and he creates more scoring chances than any other player on our team. He is getting back to that form. The three of them, they all bring something different.

Blades RW Mikhail Volotovskii (#17) looks to get by an Ice defender.

“McClennon is a top end goal scorer. Savoie is as explosive a player there is. They have good chemistry.”

At the 5:40 mark of the second, the Blades showed some push back. Lies got a pass in the centre ice zone from star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky, drove into the Winnipeg zone and fired home a midrange shot to the top left corner of the Winnipeg net using star Ice defenceman Carson Lambos as a partial screen for star Ice netminder Daniel Hauser. Lies tally cut the Ice advantage to 4-1.

Blades G Ethan Chadwick (#33) reached to cover a loose puck.

“There were shifts in the second where we spent offensive zone time, got heavy, drew some penalties and got some momentum just going back to the no quit of our team,” said Sonne. “I’m encouraged that there is no quit.”

With 7:51 remaining in the second, Ice import left-winger Vladislav Shilo thought he put home a shot for the visitors, but the officials ruled no goal on the play. The officials went to a video review and ruled the puck did not cross the goal-line when it was under Chadwick.

During the second, it appeared Chadwick might have injured his right wrist at some point in the frame. He was pulled after the second period concluded having stopped 20-of-24 shots sent his way to take the setback in goal. Austin Elliott turned away 9-of-10 sent his way playing the third period in relief.

With 2:31 remaining in the third, the Blades pulled Elliott for an extra attacker. Unfortunately for the host side, hardworking centre Jayden Wiens took a roughing minor with 2:06 remaining in the frame, which meant the Blades had to put Elliott back in goal for the rest of the period.

Blades C Jayden Wiens (#9) skates the puck out of traffic.

The Ice rounded out the game’s 5-1 final as standout left-winger Owen Pederson, who turned 21-years-old in late March, scored on the power play with 33.5 seconds remaining in the frame. Pederson fired a shot on goal from the front of the Saskatoon net that Elliott got a piece of before the puck flipped through the air into the goal. Pederson had an assist earlier in the contest to finish with a two-point night.

Hauser turned stopped 17 shots to pick of the win in goal for the Ice, who have won six straight post-season games. Star offensive-defenceman Ben Zloty had three assists for the Ice.

Ice RW Connor McClennon (#94) puts a shot through the crease.

The Blades were without solid defensive-defencemen Blake Gustafson and Ben Saunderson once again as they were both injured in the team’s Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Rebels. Saskatoon was also without star import right-winger Egor Sidorov with an undisclosed injury suffered in the club’s Game 2 loss to the Ice.

Due to the injury absences and the fact the Blades have played 17 post-season games in 33 days, fatigue is showing on the Saskatoon side. If everyone was healthy, this was expected to a competitive series on paper.

Zach Ostapchuk had a beauty assist for the Ice on Tuesday.

Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Saskatoon is appearing in the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 1994.

At the moment, the Blades have been outscored 14-3 in their three losses to open their series with the Ice.

The Ice were without 19-year-old defenceman Wyatt Wilson, who was injured in Game 5 of the team’s Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Moose Jaw Warriors.

With all that noted, Patrick said his Ice are taking the approach that the Blades are down but not out. The Ice bench boss said you have to respect the battle that comes from the Saskatoon side.

Daniel Hauser, left, and Easton Armstrong celebrate the Ice win.

“What they’ve done the last two series I think the whole league has taken notice,” said Patrick. “We certainly have.

“We respect the hell out of them for what they accomplished being down 3-0 and the way they played coming back. They were a real resilient bunch, so I give them credit for that. I continually remind my team of that.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Ice top guns freeze out Blades

Winnipeg takes 2-0 lead in Eastern Conference final

Connor McClennon had a hat trick and an assist on Saturday.

The Winnipeg Ice top line felt the need for speed and the need for goals.

The forward unit of right-winger Connor McClennon, centre Matthew Savoie and left-winger Zach Benson delivered an abundance of both in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series on Saturday afternoon against visiting the Saskatoon Blades. The Ice trio combined for five goals and five assists to power their host squad to a 6-2 victory before an appreciative gathering of 1,720 spectators at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

McClennon had a hat trick and an assist, while both Savoie and Benson each had a goal and two assists.

With the win, the Ice take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven set. Games 3 and 4 are set for Tuesday and Wednesday respectively at 7 p.m. both nights at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

Before the Ice stars took flight, the Blades came with a good initial push at the start of the first period. The visitor’s early momentum was assisted by the face Ice standout centre Conor Geekie was given a minor penalty for tripping at the 4:07 mark of the opening frame.

On the ensuing power play, Ice star netminder Daniel Hauser turned away two dangerous chances coming from a midrange shot from the left slot by Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky and a point blank shot from the front of the Winnipeg net by centre Jayden Wiens.

Matthew Savoie had a goal and two assists on Saturday.

Right as the power play expired, the Ice turned the game’s momentum around. First, Ice defenceman Karter Prosofsky dumped Blades star import right-winger Egor Sidorov with a big hit.

A short time after that hit, Ice star offensive-defenceman Carson Lambos had the puck in his own zone and hit McClennon with a stretch pass at centre ice. McClennon jetted into the Saskatoon zone down the right wing and snapped home a shot just above the right faceoff dot to give the hosts a 1-0 edge. The goal came on Winnipeg’s first shot of the contest.

After the Ice went ahead on the scoreboard, the Blades had a chance to pull even off a good rush by Lisowsky. On a rush down the left wing into the Winnipeg zone, Lisowsky made a toe drag move around an Ice defenceman and snipped a shot on goal that was turned away by Hauser.

With 2:29 remaining in the first, McClennon scored his second of the contest to put the Ice up 2-0 with the Winnipeg side working on the power play. Ice star offensive-defenceman Ben Zloty had the puck above the right faceoff circle and fed a pass down to McClennon, who was left all alone by the left post of the Saskatoon net. McClennon made no mistake potting his second of the contest into an open cage to give his squad a two-goal edge.

The Ice power-play goal ended a run for the Blades where they had killed 12 straight power-play chances by their opposition.

Zach Benson (#9) had a goal and two assists for the Ice.

When the opening 20 minutes came to a close, the Blades held a 10-9 edge in shots on goal, but the Ice held a 2-0 advantage on the scoreboard.

At the 3:25 mark of the second, the Ice’s topped line lived out the cliché that you have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good. McClennon put the puck into the right corner of the Saskatoon zone on what seemed like a harmless dump in.

Blades netminder Austin Elliott started to skate behind his net in anticipation of playing the puck. The puck took a wicked curl off the boards and shot out across the face of the Saskatoon goal straight to a forechecking Benson. Benson dumped the puck into an empty Blades net to push the hosts lead out to 3-0.

With 7:31 remaining in the second, the Ice received a goal from outside their top forward line. Geekie had the puck just inside his own blue-line and hit standout centre Owen Pederson, who turned 21-years-old in late March, with a stretch pass just before the Saskatoon blue-line.

The Blades were caught on a line change, which allowed Pederson to streak into the Saskatoon zone on a breakaway. Pederson snuck a nifty backhand shot between the legs of Elliott for his third goal of the post-season to give the Ice a 4-0 lead.

Justin Lies scored for the Blades.

Just 68 seconds into the third, McClennon completed his hat trick to put the Ice ahead 5-0 on a play that almost resembled his power-play goal earlier in the contest. Ice defenceman Graham Sward had the puck at the right point and he fed a smart pass down to McClennon, who was again alone at the left post of the Saskatoon goal.

McClennon calmly potted his hat trick goal into an empty cage to give the hosts a five-goal edge. The tally was also the 10^th of the post-season for McClennon.

The Blades broke through for the first time in the series on the scoreboard shortly after the midway point of the third period where gritty left-winger Justin Lies seemingly turned into Blades all-time great Bernie Federko for a rush. Lies got the puck in the centre ice zone, jetting down the right wing, deked out and zipped around Lambos to get in alone on the Winnipeg net and slipped home a shot between the legs of Hauser to cut the Ice lead to 5-1.

With 5:21 remaining in the third, the Blades struck on the power play to trim the Ice advantage to 5-2. Wiens knocked home a puck about a foot in the air off the ice surface at the right side of the Winnipeg net to pull the Blades to within three. The opportunity Wiens cashed in on came from a rebound off a shot taken by Blades star centre Trevor Wong.

The officials checked out the tally on a video review and confirmed the goal was a good one.

The Blades were hoping to build on the two-goal surge and pulled Elliott for an extra attacker with 4:38 remaining in the third.

Jayden Wiens scored for the Blades on Saturday.

The Ice sealed the final outcome with 3:33 remaining in the third with an empty-net goal from Savoie that rounded out the 6-2 final.

Hauser made 27 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Ice, who have won five straight post-season games. Elliott turned away 27-of-32 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

The Blades were without 20-year-old defenceman Blake Gustafson and 18-year-old rearguard Ben Saunderson on Saturday as they were both injured in the team’s second game Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Red Deer Rebels. They have yet to suit up for the Blades in their series with the Ice.

Black ace Morgan Tastad, who turned 17-years-old in January, dressed for his second career WHL post-season contest on Saturday and second straight game to allow the Blades to have six defencemen.

Tastad played most of the 2022-23 campaign with the Saskatoon Contacts under-18 AAA team. In 41 regular season appearances with the Contacts, Tastad had three goals and 24 assists.

Saskatoon elected to dress left-winger Mikhail Volotovskii in place of centre Jordan Keller with the hopes of getting a spark offensively.

Trevor Wong had an assist for the Blades on Saturday.

The Ice’s biggest scratch was 19-year-old defenceman Wyatt Wilson. Winnipeg elected to dress 17-year-old rookie rearguard Ashton Cumby for his third career post-season contest.

The Ice topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice. 

The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Blades overcame a 2-0 deficit in a first round series against Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats and a 3-0 deficit in an Eastern Conference semifinal against the Rebels to win those sets in respective Game 7s.

The Ice are pleased to have a 2-0 series lead.

Looking ahead, the Blades can’t be counted out, but the Ice’s skill and depth in skill will be tough to overcome.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

WHL leading Ice right the ship

Winnipeg ends slump with 6-0 victory over Blades

Connor McClennon (#94) dangles in the offensive zone for the Ice.

Any thoughts of about the demise of the Winnipeg Ice evaporated into the air.

Coming into Wednesday’s WHL regular season game against the host Saskatoon Blades at the SaskTel Centre, the Ice topped the overall WHL standings and were rated first in the CHL Top 10 Rankings. In their previous four outings heading into Wednesday’s game, the Ice weren’t living up to their record or high rating having lost three times in regulation.

Two of those losses included falling 6-2 at home to the Blades on December 4 and dropping a 4-1 decision to the Raiders in Prince Albert on Tuesday.

Owen Pederson (#17) makes a hit on the forecheck for the Ice.

Actually, the Ice had only won twice in their previous six contests heading into Wednesday having dropped a 4-3 decision in overtime at home to the Raiders on November 28 to start their recent struggles.

On Wednesday, the Ice righted the ship scoring three goals in a dominant first period and rolled to a 6-0 victory over the Blades to disappoint most of the 2,516 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. The convincing win allowed the Ice to improve their WHL leading record to 24-4-1.

“We were definitely fired up to play this one after being on a little bit of a skid for the last (six),” said Ice 17-year-old star centre Matthew Savoie. “Losing last night in P.A. really got us fired up.

“I just think the mentality coming into this game was must win, and we were really fired up today.”

Jakin Smallwood breaks into the offensive zone for the Ice.

Just 3:31 into the opening frame, the Ice drew first blood when left-winger Owen Pederson slipped home a shot five-hole on Blades netminder Nolan Maier.

Savoie said that first tally helped his team hit another gear.

“I thought the first shift from each line was really energetic,” said Savoie. “We came out with a physical mentality with the bounce back from last game.

“I thought the start was really key for our group tonight. Pedey’s goal just got us going.”

Jack Finley had a goal and an assist for the Ice.

The Ice upped their advantage to 2-0 just over six minutes later when star right-winger Connor McClennon wired a shot from the left slot past Maier.

Before the opening frame ended, the Ice went up 3-0 after tallying on the power play. Overage right-winger Jakin Smallwood made a smart pass in the centre ice zone to spring Savoie on a rush down the left wing.

Savoie burst down the wing, made a deke around a defenceman and snapped his 17^th of the season past Maier.

“I kind of just got on the ice a little bit late,” said Savoie, who had an assist to go with his goal on Wednesday. “Smallsy (Smallwood) kind of just had the puck in the neutral zone and made a good bump pass to me.

Matthew Savoie scores a power-play goal for the Ice.

“I kind of just went full speed and caught the D-man a little flat footed. I just put it through his triangle and tried to shoot it around the other side. Fortunately, it went in.”

Winnipeg held an 18-8 edge in shots on goal after an impressive showing in the first period.

The Blades pushed back really well in the second period. Early in the frame, Blades sophomore 17-year-old defenceman Pavel Bocharov rang a shot off the post.

That set the tone for the host side in the second as the Blades controlled territorial play holding a 12-6 edge in shots on goal.

Ben Zloty is a skilled offensive-defenceman for the Ice.

Sophomore 17-year-old Ice netminder Daniel Hauser put up a wall in front of the Winnipeg net allowing the visitors to take their 3-0 lead into the third.

The Ice regained control of the contest early in the third when 17-year-old centre Connor Geekie wrapped home his 10^th goal of the season to give the visitors a 4-0 lead.

With 4:54 remaining in the third, Pederson scored on the power play to complete a two-goal night to increase the Ice edge to 5-0.

The Ice rounded out the scoring when 19-year-old power forward Jack Finley tipped home a point shot from offensive-defenceman Ben Zloty with 2:04 remaining in the third.

Jonas Woo made his WHL debut for the Ice on Wednesday.

Finley finished the game netting an assist to go with his goal recording his first two points as a member of the Ice since being acquired in a trade with the Spokane Chiefs on December 6. Finley had been the Chiefs captain and had attended the selection camp for Canada’s world junior team.

Smallwood finished the contest collecting three assists.

Maier turned away 27 shots to take the setback goal for the Blades (14-12-1). Hauser stopped 28 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Ice (24-4-1).

The shutout was the third of the season for Hauser.

When the dust settled, Savoie said Wednesday’s game was the performance his club needed to get things back on track again.

Ice G Daniel Hauser stops a shot that came through a screen.

“After a loss, you always want to play the next day and get back out there to bounce back,” said Savoie, who leads the WHL in scoring with 47 points coming on 17 goals and 30 assists. “I think playing the very next day after a loss was good for our group.

“I thought we came out good today.”

The Blades now play the Raiders twice before both those clubs go on a Christmas break. The sides meet Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre to start a home-and-home series and conclude that series with a 7 p.m. encounter on Saturday at the SaskTel Centre.

Jack Finley (#26) celebrates his first goal with the Ice.

That Saturday game will be the Teddy Bear Toss night for the Blades.

The Ice travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings on Friday (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place). That is the first game of a home-and-home series between those two sides.

They go at it again on Saturday in Winnipeg at 7 p.m. at the Wayne Fleming Arena before they depart on their respective Christmas breaks.

Savoie said the Ice just have to continue being themselves in order to go into the Christmas break on a high note.

“We just have to keep sticking to our system,” said Savoie. “When things don’t go right, you just go back to the step one and go back to the simple details for us.”

Zach Benson drives up ice for the Ice.

NOTES – Jonas Woo made his WHL debut with his hometown Ice on Wednesday. The Ice selected the 15-year-old defenceman in the first round and 18^th overall in the WHL Prospects Draft that was held online last Thursday. He was a plus-one in the Ice victory.

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, the Ice acquired 17-year-old Italian import right-winger Alessandro Segafredo from the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for 18-year-old Czech import defenceman Martin Bohm and a sixth round selection in the 2024 WHL Prospect Draft.

The Ice celebrate their 6-0 victory on Wednesday.

Segafredo had three goals, seven assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department in 19 games with the Thunderbirds. He wasn’t able to suit up for the Ice on Wednesday.

Bohm had two assists and plus-10 rating in 15 games with the Ice.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.