Fraser Minten scores twice as Blades beat Rebels in Game 1

Going into Friday night’s WHL playoff game at SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon Blades fans had to go back to March 22, 2019 to see their team’s last Game 1 win.

Names like Kirby Dach, Nolan Maier and Aidan De La Gorgendiere headlined that version of the Blades.

Now, with a new core of Tanner Molendyk, Fraser Minten, Trevor Wong, Egor Sidorov and more, the Blades ended a string of six straight Game 1 losses with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Red Deer Rebels.

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne says it was nice to start the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal on the right foot.

“You want to win every game,” said Sonne. “What we’ve learned as a team over the last three years is even if you do lose Game 1 or 2 or 3, it’s not over until its four.”

In the first period, Minten got the crowd — and more importantly his family — on their feet as he beat Rebels netminder Chase Wutzke for the 1-0 lead.

Minten said he was super happy to have his family in attendance.

“It’s awesome. (It’s) a little further than Kamloops was, so (I) don’t get to see them every other weekend,” said Minten, who hails from Vancouver.

About halfway through the first, the Blades dumped the puck into the Rebels’ zone and the puck found the back of the net. But the apparent goal was called off because Blades forward Misha Volotovskii was offside.

Sonne said it was a weird play in general.

“It was just very strange,” he said. “So the puck went in after we had cleared the zone, so what we thought is that is a goal.”

Sonne said they went and found a rulebook to get some clarity on the play and said it ended up being the right call.

In the second period, Rebels forward Carson Birnie put one past Blades goalie Evan Gardner at 5:29 to tie the game up at 1-1. But just over three minutes later, Blades forward Vaughn Watterodt muscled one by Wutzke to make it 2-1 for Saskatoon.

Minten scored his second goal of the game on a power play at 13:02 of the second, one-timing a shot past Wutzke to give the Blades a 3-1 advantage.

Sonne said Minten played a good overall game.

“I really liked his game. I thought he was a driver,” said Sonne. “I think he’s always a driver, but there are times where he just takes it to this level that is really difficult for anyone to play against.”

Minten wasn’t just doing it on the scoresheet either. In the third period, he took a shot off an ankle and was slow to get up, but he managed to get the puck out of the crease and battle in the corner.

Minten said he was glad to see some bounces go his way.

“There were just results tonight,” said Minten, whose team beat the Prince Albert Raiders in the first round. “(There were) lots of times in the first round where I had six (or) seven shots on net and they just hit a post or the blocker.”

Brandon Lisowsky completed the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:11 of the third.

The Blades saw the return of defenceman Morgan Tastad, and he didn’t miss a beat as he set a physical presence early.

Sonne said Tastad played a very important role.

“I thought he was very good tonight considering it had been a little bit,” said Sonne. “That’s the key of a hockey team … Playoffs isn’t just a sail on the calm waters. You get injuries, you get banged up (and) you get fatigued. It’s the teams that can rely on their depth.”

As for the Rebels, it’s time to regroup and come back prepared for Game 2 on Sunday. Game time at SaskTel Centre is 4 p.m.

Rebels head coach Dave Struch said his squad needs to have a better performance going forward.

“I would hope our game gets a lot better so we can give them a challenge,” said Struch.