The form chart took a beating when it came to games involving the Saskatoon Blades this weekend.
After out-lasting the Central Division and Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings Friday by a 2-1 score in a shootout, the Bridge City Bunch couldn’t regain the same emotional and performance level Saturday as they fell 4-1 to the Prince George Cougars. A crowd of 3,831 fans at SaskTel Centre saw Taylor Gauthier back-stop the Cats with 29 saves while Belarus import Vladislav Mikhalchuk assisted on three P-G tallies and Cougars’ captain Josh Maser opened and closed out the scoring. The victory ended a three-game winless streak for Prince George and was their first win in three stops on their six-game East Division road trip. Tristen Robins managed the lone goal for the Blue and Gold, tying the game early in the third period, but the Cougars re-established control shortly thereafter, dropping the Blades to a 20-18-3 record for the season. Saskatoon is off until a home-and-home series with Swift Current starts Friday at SaskTel Centre. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Prince George Cougars 4 at Saskatoon Blades 1 – Status: Final
Saturday, January 11, 2020 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Prince George 0 1 3 – 4
Saskatoon 0 0 1 – 1
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Sander Pg (holding), 15:12; Dach Sas (checking to the head), 19:14.
2nd Period-1, Prince George, Maser 17 (Browne, Mikhalchuk), 4:24 (PP). Penalties-Kneen Sas (tripping), 3:19; Eastman Pg (hooking), 7:00; Kucerik Sas (hooking), 11:06; De La Gorgendiere Sas (delay of game), 18:28.
3rd Period-2, Saskatoon, Robins 15 (Fasko-Rudas), 5:47. 3, Prince George, Hooker 10 (Mikhalchuk, Upper), 7:19. 4, Prince George, Bowie 9 (Sander), 11:21. 5, Prince George, Maser 18 (Mikhalchuk), 19:11 (EN). Penalties-Robins Sas (cross checking), 7:50.
Shots on Goal-Prince George 5-8-8-21. Saskatoon 8-8-14-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Prince George 1 / 5; Saskatoon 0 / 2.
Goalies-Prince George, Gauthier 8-17-3-4 (30 shots-29 saves). Saskatoon, MacInnes 5-4-0-0 (20 shots-17 saves).
A-3,831
Referees-Cody Beach (76), Jason Bourdon (20).
Linesmen-Riley Carriere (72), Devan Thiessen (94).