Blades keep pace in the standings with win over Warriors

The Saskatoon Blades put an exclamation mark on their standing in the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) East Division with an emphatic 6-1 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors Wednesday at Sasktel Centre.

Saskatoon and Moose Jaw entered Wednesday vying for second place — and home ice for the playoffs — in the division with the Blades (32-13-8-0) holding a six-point lead over the Warriors (28-13-6-2), but also played four more games than their provincial rivals.

Head coach Mitch Love was impressed with how his team started the game, especially considering many of the players didn’t arrive home until 5 a.m. with the Blades playing in Brandon on Tuesday.

“It was a big win for our hockey club,” Love said. “Especially after last night’s travel arrangements coming home. There was a little bit of adversity there, but it was a great effort up and down our lineup from every body.”

“We knew the importance of the game and found a way.”

Saskatoon gained the upper hand from the opening puck drop as Blades players routinely out skated and out shot Moose Jaw throughout the game, resulting in a 21-5 shot advantage after the opening period and 48-20 lead by the end of the game.

Aiding the Blades’ dominance was the suspension of Tristin Langan, the Warriors leading scorer, who was suspended for fighting after a loss to Prince Albert on Saturday.

“I thought we were that good,” defenceman Dawson Davidson said when asked if his team was that good or if the Warriors were that bad on Wednesday.

“I thought it was one of our best 60-minute efforts.”

Those 21 first-period shots led to two goals, the latter of which coming from captain Chase Wouters with 11 seconds remaining.

“We came to the rink and we were ready to play,” Kirby Dach said before declaring his team’s place in the league.

“That put the league on notice that we’re there to stay and we’re a good team.”

Blades penalties got them into trouble, and also managed to pull them out of trouble in the span of five minutes during the second period.

After three successive Blades penalties allowed the Warriors’ Justin Almeida to score on an open net, it was Riley McKay taking a penalty after Saskatoon narrowly missed out on extending it’s lead.

The ill-fated penalty turned out to be a blessing as McKay took a pass directly out of the penalty box and sent a drop pass to Dawson Davidson for a one-time goal to end the Warriors come back attempt and give the Blades a 4-1 lead heading into the third period.

Saskatoon was able to ice the game on two powerplay goals in the third period for the 6-1.

After beating Brandon 7-3 on Tuesday, Love thinks a lot of what worked there carried through to Wednesday’s game.

“Tonight our five-on-five play was very good again,” Love said. “We got to build off that. We’re only a month removed from the trade deadline.”

You’re trying to integrate guys into your culture and make them feel comfortable being a Saskatoon Blade and I think we’re starting to see that right now.”

Aggression started to show in the waning minutes of the third period as Dach was leveled by the Warriors’ Jett Woo before he could receive a pass.

“It got a little feisty there, that’s what happens I guess (when) there’s two teams fighting in the standings,” Love said about the game’s ending.

These teams play each other two more times this season — March 5 in Moose Jaw and March 10 in Saskatoon for two matchups that could ultimately determine who has home ice advantage when the playoffs begins.

Game Notes

Saskatoon’s Gary Haden extended his hot streak with an assist on Hughes’ goal in the second period. The man known as “Uncle Gary” to teammates and fans now has points in six straight games and 14 points in his last six games played.

Dawson Davidson also extended his point streak to 11 games by getting a goal and two assists on Wednesday. The 21-year-old now has 19 points during that streak.

Elsewhere in the East Division, The Prince Albert Raiders became the first team to clinch a playoff spot thanks to Saskatoon’s win over Brandon Tuesday.