Blades push past the Broncos on Don Cherry night

The Saskatoon Blades used a three-goal flurry in the second period to beat the Swift Current Broncos 6-1 on Saturday.

Two goals from Tristen Robins and Kristian Roykas Marthinsen  in the span of 51 seconds was all the cushion the Blades would need to cruise to the victory in front of 4,555 fans at Sasktel Centre during the annual Don Cherry night that sees the team wear special edition jerseys that are auctioned off after the game.

After a lackluster first period that saw a combined 11 shots, it was Robins pouncing on a rebound in front of the Broncos net after goaltender Riley Lamb was unable to catch the initial shot from Max Gerlach to give the Blades the lead nearly seven minutes into the second period.

“I didn’t think we were mentally engaged to play the game to start,” Blades head coach Mitch Love said following the game. “We had a good conversation between the first and the second (periods) and the guys came out and played a better last two periods.”

That goal seemed to spark the Blades as Roykas Marthinsen scored less than a minute later by deflecting a Reece Harsch shot.

As Saskatoon started to dominate the share of shots on net, it was Ryan Hughes getting in on the second period scoring spree as he slotted home a shot following a nifty pass on a 2-on-1 from Riley McKay.

“I didn’t know if he could get it over there, and then he made it and I just kind of hammered it home,” Hughes said of his quick goal.

However, Hughes wasn’t done with fast goals.

With freshly applied water still freezing to start the third period, Hughes raced down the left wing off the opening faceoff and snapped a perfectly placed shot over Lamb for a goal  just seven seconds into the third period.

“I did happen so fast, we got on to the bench after and (McKay) and I were kind of chuckling,” Hughes said before admitting he didn’t know how it all happened.

“That’s gotta rank up there for fastest goal (in my career).”

The goal was just two seconds shy of Kevin Yellowaga’s club record for  fastest goal to start a period set back in 1988.

Goals from Dawson Davidson and Kirby Dach would seal the victory for the Blades.

Dorin Luding had his shutout wiped off the score sheet when Swift Current’s Matthew Culling deflected a point shot 12:41 into the third period.

The win improves the Blades record to 13-1-0 over its last 14 games.

Even though the matchup has been a virtual lock for weeks, the Blades and Moose Jaw Warriors will meet in the first round of the WHL playoffs as neither team can finish anywhere else in the standings this season. The first set of games will go March 21st and March 22 at Sasktel Centre.

Saskatoon is back on the ice for a preview of the first round at 2 p.m. when the Warriors pay a visit to Sasktel Centre.