Slow Start, Fast Finish Allows Blades to Quell Hurricanes

The Saskatoon Blades spotted Lethbridge the first three goals Friday night, but roared back with the final five tallies to blow away the Hurricanes 5-3 in Southern Alberta.

The Bridge City Bunch welcomed back a trio of players, who missed the opening weekend of the W-H-L season while attending N-H-L training camps, and they all made key contributions in the comeback victory. David Lewandowski (pictured) and Hunter Laing each had a goal and an assist in their season debuts after returning from the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, respectively, and Evan Gardner came on in relief of Ethan McCallum in the first period and stopped all 17 shots he faced four days after playing a period in goal for the Columbus Blue Jackets in an N-H-L pre-season game against the St. Louis Blues. The Blue and Gold, who improved to 2-1-0, also got goals from Kazden Mathies, Dominik Petr – with the game winner on a 4-on-3 power play – and Rowan Calvert, who scored into an empty net. When head coach Dan Da Silva made the goaltending change at 12:05 of the first period, as the 1-2-0 Hurricanes went ahead 3-0, the shots on goal were 6-6. They ended up being 39-23 in favour of the Blades, meaning Saskatoon out-shot the Canes 33-17 over the final 47:55. The Bridge City Bunch also were the better squad on special teams, scoring twice on five power play chances and killing off all four Lethbridge man advantages. The Blue and Gold finish up their quick, mini two-game Southern Alberta road trip Saturday night in Medicine Hat against the defending W-H-L-champion Tigers. Game time is 7 o’clock with CJWW’s broadcast beginning at 6:45. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show conversations with Da Silva, Blades’ defenceman and former Hurricane Tristen Doyle, plus Les Lazaruk’s first intermission chat with Canes’ General Manager Peter Anholt, as well as the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L website…..

SASKATOON Goals SASKATOON PLAYERS (plus) LETHBRIDGE PLAYERS (minus) Per. Time  G-As1-As2 1st 17:08 PP  11-16-27 2nd 5:41  27-11-16 4 11 16 27 37 2 4 9 17 27 2nd 15:43  77-3 3 13 18 25 77 4 5 13 16 28 3rd 4:30 PP  82-47-20 3rd 19:51 EN  23 3 13 20 23 77 2 8 9 10 16 18

LETHBRIDGE Goals LETHBRIDGE PLAYERS (plus) SASKATOON PLAYERS (minus) Per. Time  G-As1-As2 1st 5:59  9-4-20 4 5 9 16 20 3 9 17 25 47 1st 7:30  18-23-10 2 10 17 18 23 3 11 16 27 47 1st 12:05  27-22-11 2 11 22 23 27 4 9 11 26 37