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Blades Prefer “Glass Half Full” Approach to Overtime Setback to Hitmen

By Les Lazaruk Dec 8, 2024 | 12:04 AM

Depending on your personal preference, Saturday night’s 5-4 overtime loss could be viewed either in a “glass half full” or “glass half empty” way by the Saskatoon Blades and the 4,037 fans at SaskTel Centre.

“Glass half full” would be to look at the two power play goals in the third period that allowed the Bridge City Bunch to overcome a 4-2 deficit after two periods and force overtime. By getting to extra time, the Blue and Gold extended their home-ice record to 11-0-3 for the season and 17-0-3 over the last 20 regular-season games at SaskTel Centre, dating back to March 1. Another positive was scoring three power play goals in five chances.

“Glass half empty” would be the hat-trick goal by Calgary leading scorer Ben Kindel, just 29 seconds into O-T, along with the approximately 30 minutes of play from mid-way through the first period to end of the second frame in which the 14-9-4 Hitmen out-scored the 17-6-4 Blades 4-1 and out-shot them 19-8.

In the end, the shots on goal were even at 26-26. First-time N-H-L draft eligible forward Kindel added an assist to his three goals for Calgary while 19-year-old veteran forward Oliver Tulk had a goal and three assists and Ottawa Senators’ first round draft pick this past summer, defenceman Carter Yakemchuk, had a goal and two helpers. On the Saskatoon side, blueliner Tanner Molendyk had a goal and three assists in his final game before attending Team Canada’s World Junior team selection camp this coming week. In addition, 20-year-old left winger Brandon Lisowsky scored twice and added an assist – his second goal forcing overtime – while sophomore, 17-year-old centre Hudson Kibblewhite had the other goal for the Bridge City Bunch in his return to action after missing the previous seven games due to injury. The Blue and Gold play four games in the final week ahead of the W-H-L’s Christmas break, starting off with a Tuesday visit to Medicine Hat. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game Show comments from head coach Dan Da Silva and Molendyk plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..




Game Report 1021501 Western Hockey League
PLAYED AT: SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Date: Dec 7, 2024
Visiting Team: Calgary Hitmen
Manager:
Home Team: Saskatoon Blades
Manager:
CALGARY LINEUP
Pos No.  Name
G 29  Miller, Anders
G 31  Tu, Eric
2  Williams, Dax
5  Burrett, Linden
6  Hurtig, Axel
7  Aura, Hunter
8  Parker, Kalem (OA)
9  Howe, Tanner
A 11  Kindel, Ben
12  Pisarczyk, Wyatt
15  Muranov, Maxim (OA)
C 16  Wetsch, Carson
17  Adaszynski, David
18  Moore, Ethan
A 21  Hvidston, Connor (OA)
A 26  Yakemchuk, Carter
34  Valliant, Chase
37  Tulk, Oliver
38  Gorzynski, Brandon
39  Ng, Rylan
CALGARY PENALTIES
Per. No. Min  Offence Off PP PS Start On
1st 26 2:00  Slashing 0:47 1 0:47 2:11
1st 39 2:00  Tripping 6:46 1 6:46 8:46
2nd 17 2:00  Tripping 11:27 1 11:27 13:27
3rd 37 2:00  High Sticking 5:28 1 5:28 7:28
3rd 16 5:00  Major-Fighting 8:16 8:16 14:26
3rd 2 2:00  Holding 14:26 1 14:26 15:02
SASKATOON LINEUP
Pos No.  Name
G 32  McCallum, Ethan
G 35  Gardner, Evan
C 2  Saunderson, Ben (OA)
3  Martin, Jordan
4  Klimpke, Brayden
8  Lisowsky, Brandon (OA)
9  Olsen, Zach
11  Kibblewhite, Hudson
13  Poll, Isaac
14  Worthington, Colten
17  Volotovskii, Misha
19  Riche, Ben
A 20  Parr, Tyler
21  Siepmann, Grayden (OA)
A 23  Calvert, Rowan
24  Molendyk, Tanner
25  Williams, Cooper
28  Hansen, Lukas
52  Tastad, Morgan
86  Lewandowski, David
SASKATOON PENALTIES
Per. No. Min  Offence Off PP PS Start On
2nd 19 2:00  Tripping 4:14 1 4:14 6:14
2nd 4 2:00  Tripping 9:12 1 9:12 9:50
3rd 4 2:00  Cross Checking 8:16 1 8:16 10:16
3rd 20 5:00  Major-Fighting 8:16 8:16 14:26
CALGARY Goals CALGARY PLAYERS (plus) SASKATOON PLAYERS (minus)
Per. Time  G-As1-As2
1st 15:09  37-11 2 9 11 12 37 17 21 23 28 52
2nd 6:16  26-37-9 9 11 16 26 37 11 19 21 28 52
2nd 8:14  11-8 6 8 9 11 37 2 8 19 20 24
2nd 9:50 PP  11-37-26
OT :29  11-37-26 11 26 37 2 19 24
SASKATOON Goals SASKATOON PLAYERS (plus) CALGARY PLAYERS (minus)
Per. Time  G-As1-As2
1st 2:11 PP  24-8
2nd :46  8-19-24 2 8 19 20 24 7 9 11 26 37
3rd 6:40 PP  11-24-86
3rd 15:02 PP  8-23-24
POWER PLAY OPPORTUNITIES
CALGARY 1 / 3
SASKATOON 3 / 5

PENALTY SUMMARY
CALGARY 15 min / 6 inf
SASKATOON 11 min / 4 inf

POINT SUMMARY
CALGARY 5 G + 8 A = 13 Pts
SASKATOON 4 G + 7 A = 11 Pts
SCORING 1 2 3 OT Total
CALGARY 1 3 0 1 5
SASKATOON 1 1 2 0 4
GOALTENDER/SAVES (Time) 1 2 3 OT Tot. On Off
CGY – Miller (60:29) (W) 6 7 9 0 22 /0:00 OT/0:29
SAS – Gardner (60:29) (OTL) 11 8 2 0 21 /0:00 OT/0:29
Stars of the Game TIME OF GAME:
 CGY – 11 Kindel  Start: 7:05 PM
 SAS – 24 Molendyk  End: 9:37 PM
 SAS – 8 Lisowsky  Attendance: 4037
OFFICIALS
Referee: Brayden Glynn (96)
Referee: Ty Skene (19)
Linesmen: Riley Carriere (72)
Linesmen: Tanner McGregor (55)

CERTIFIED CORRECT
This report has been checked and verified against the Official Western Hockey League Game Report.