Blades captain plays hero in 3-2 overtime win over Warriors

Welcome back to the Western Hockey League (WHL) playoffs, Saskatoon.

Friday’s return to the playoffs after a six-year absence was exactly what the Saskatoon Blades dreamed of in 3-2 overtime victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors.

It was Blades captain Chase Wouters scoring 3:23 into overtime to give the Blades a 1-0 lead in the WHL first round series, and the first playoff victory for the Blades since 2011.

But if you ask him, it wasn’t on purpose.

“I was just trying to get a rebound,” Wouters admitted after snapping a 12-game post-season losing streak for his club with a harmless looking backhand attempt from the left wing.

However, he couldn’t deny the amazing feeling of scoring the game-winner in front of 5,193 fans in his WHL playoff debut.

“It’s a pretty crazy feeling. It’s something I’ll never forget, that’s for sure.”

Blades head coach Mitch Love is used to these kind of efforts from his captain.

The man everyone wants to talk to. pic.twitter.com/ZBgjYQnZfv

— Keenan Sorokan (@KeenanSorokan) March 23, 2019

“That’s Woutty,” he said following the game.

“He works hard, plays key roles, and it’s overtime hockey — you just get pucks to the net and see what happens.”

With Saskatoon down 2-0 after the first period, the game began to shift in the Blades favour as Moose Jaw was out-shot 24-8 in the final two periods, including a two-shot third period.

Warriors Head Coach Tim Hunter thought Saskatoon made things easy for the officials.

“(The Blades) were really trying to embellish themselves into some power plays again tonight,” he said. “We gave up four straight power plays after having two power plays.”

When asked, Love was unaware of his team’s embellishment tendencies.

“I don’t think we do. We don’t teach that stuff around here,” he said, pointing to the referees role in calling penalties.

After a subdued first period, it was  Moose Jaw drawing first blood on the score sheet when Kaeden Taphorn cashed in on a hard-checking shift. With the Blades tangled up trying to clear their own end, Blades defenceman Nolan Kneen missed his clearing attempt with a bouncing puck in front of him to allow Taphorn the easy goal 3:03 into the second period.

The Warriors second goal came from a very unlikely source. With top rookie Brayden Tracey out of the lineup, 16-year-old Eric Alarie slotted into the Warriors top line exactly a week after playing his final game with the Rink Hockey Academy Prep team in Winnipeg.

Just 91 seconds after his team’s first goal, it was Alarie notching his first career WHL goal with a wicked wrist shot over the blocker of Blades goaltender Nolan Maier as a group of Saskatoon defenders dropped back on a 3-on-2 rush up the ice.

“It feels pretty good, but at the end of the day, we need to win the game,” he said after scoring in his first career WHL game.

Saskatoon wasted no time to get back in the game as Max Gerlach made it a 2-1 game with a perfectly placed slap shot past a moving defender and right under the cross bar.

Riley McKay would register the other Blades goal to tie the game with a little more than eight minutes remaining.

The Blades went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Warriors were 0-for-2.