Sidorov strikes: Blades beat Warriors in overtime to tie playoff series

Egor Sidorov played the role of overtime hero as the Saskatoon Blades evened up their WHL eastern conference final series with the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Moose Jaw couldn’t clear the puck, and when it landed on the stick of Sidorov in front of the net, he made no mistake on the chance to earn the 5-4 victory.

“It was a great backcheck by (Brandon) Lisowsky,” Sidorov said following the win. “He just passed me the puck. It was in my head to try between the legs, but I thought no, I’m going to fake forehand, fake backhand, and goal.”

And how big was that goal compared to others Sidorov has scored?

“It’s huge; it’s bigger,” Sidorov said.

With 13 goals this postseason, the Blades were happy to have Sidorov be the one who ended up with the puck.

“There’s not too many guys you would rather have it on their stick on overtime,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne.

That evened the series at two games apiece.

“It’s a bit of a disappointment to let that one slide away after how hard we battled back after the first period. There’s a lot of good things that came out of that game, it just stings a little bit,” said Moose Jaw captain Denton Mateychuk.

Wednesday’s game was the third time overtime was needed in this series between the two teams. Game 1 was a 4-3 Moose Jaw win in overtime in Saskatoon. The next game, Saskatoon bounced back with an overtime win of their own, earning a 3-2 decision.

Game 3 ended in regulation with Moose Jaw winning 3-1.

It was a wild first period in Moose Jaw on Wednesday, with both teams flexing their firepower.

Saskatoon got on the board early, with Brandon Lisowsky scoring just 14 seconds into the game after Moose Jaw goaltender Jackson Unger lost track of the puck, leaving it in the open behind him.

Just 53 seconds later Blades captain Trevor Wong added to Saskatoon’s lead, getting a puck past a screened Unger.

“Really disappointed in the start,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary.

“The goals are one thing, but I just thought we stood around and watched. For as big as this game was and as excited as we were about the opportunity, just disappointed with the start. (The players) did what they always do and punched back and battled ourselves back into the game, but at the end of the day you can’t start like that and expect to get a bounce late.”

Alexander Suzdalev pushed the lead to 3-0 when he tipped a Ben Saunderson pass into the net.

“I thought we started really well and I thought circumstances allowed that comeback,” Sonne said. “I don’t think we gave it up. I thought they came back and we stuck with it.

“I loved our start — the desperation that we had. It went away because of circumstances, but I loved our start. That was our best start of playoffs.”

In front of a home crowd, Moose Jaw didn’t back down.

Brayden Yager scored his ninth of the playoffs when he fired a puck past Saskatoon goaltender Evan Gardner as a power-play opportunity expired.

Jagger Firkus cut the lead to just one when his shot found the back of the net.

But Tanner Molendyk answered quickly to that salvo, scoring just 58 seconds later to once again put Saskatoon up by a pair.

In the second period, Yager once again found the back of the net early in the frame. Just as a power-play ended, Yager received a pass from Firkus and he made no mistake sliding past Gardner.

Rilen Kovacevic brought the game back to even just before the midway point of the second period.

A scoreless third period meant an extra frame was needed, where Sidorov would end it.

With a tightly contested series, the players are enjoying the heightened pressure in the games.

“It’s the funnest time of the year. It’s what you build all year to play in is the playoffs and to have a matchup just down the road like this, it’s a lot of fun. I love being out there,” Mateychuk said.

Game 5 of the series goes on Friday at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.