Blades avoid third period collapse, defeat Warriors 5-4 in overtime

The Saskatoon Blades are heading to Moose Jaw on Sunday with the chance to advance to their first WHL Championship series since 1994 after defeating the Warriors 5-4 in overtime.

On the scoresheet, you might think of this game like a typical high scoring playoff game, but that was far from the case on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre.

After 40 minutes, the Blades were up 4-0 on the Warriors and in full control.

Fraser Minten opened the scoring just 2:56 into the first period and that was followed by Egor Sidorov netting his 14th of the playoffs to put the Blades up 2-0.

In the second period, Charlie Wright and Brandon Lisowsky found the back of the net for the Blades and put them up 4-0, which resulted in the Warriors pulling stating goaltender Jackson Unger for rookie Dimitri Fortin.

Everything seemed to being going the Blades way, until it wasn’t.

Off a lucky break to start the third period, Brayden Schuurman scored to make it 4-1 just 49 seconds in. His goal was followed by Jagger Firkus scoring on the power play three minutes later to make it 4-2.

The Warriors continued on with the pressure and defenceman Denton Matechyuk scored two goals in a span of six minutes to even things up at 4-4, helping lead an improbable comeback that maybe only the Warriors thought was possible.

In overtime, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw traded chances – including one from the Warriors which hit both posts.

In the end, Minten found the back of the net and scored his second of the game and second overtime winner of the playoffs to help the Blades avoid a catastrophic loss on home ice.

“It’s a crazy series,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne after the game. “And this tops them all so far even. I’m still breathing right now, so I guess that’s a good sign my ticker didn’t kick, but that’s pretty wild. Pretty crazy swings that’s for sure.”

“We’re here to get wins,” said Minten when asked about what he thought of an emotional and chaotic game. “We were just chasing that 11th win and we come away with it – that was our goal – job done – you got to have a short memory there. We won’t be happy with the third obviously, but we put ourselves in a position where we were still able to come away with the win. Overall, a good result.”

Both Sonne and Minten gave the Warriors credit for what was an improbable comeback.

“They refer to it as their ‘punch back’ and they’re really good at it,” said Sonne. “That’s what they do. The first one gets that started a little bit and then a power play and now that snowball is rolling down the hill. I think we could’ve managed (their comeback) a little better – but at  the end of the day – it’s all about learning and adjusting and moving forward and living in the moment. I thought when it hit that five minute mark in the third we started to claw back a little bit. It’s a great learning lesson for us too.”

“Give them credit, they’re probably the toughest team to play against with the lead,” Minten said. “They have unreal talent and when they get a couple it just goes straight to their legs and their top guys start flying around. They’re tough to contain when they’re playing like that.”

Despite being down 4-0 after 40 minutes and pulling Unger for Fortin, Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary didn’t see much wrong with how his team was played on Friday night.

“Our effort was great. Our effort from start to finish was excellent and it’s been that way all the way. When we got down four, it even got better. Effort? I wouldn’t even touch that one.”

O’Leary added he wasn’t surprised to see his team overcome a 4-0 deficit in the third.

“It’s a group that they care. They don’t want to let each other down. I’ve talked about this before – everybody wants to talk about the start and this period and that period, but that’s all just scoreboard watching and even looking at shots – that’s not the game. Are you playing the right way? Are you playing honest? Are you playing to our structure? Those are the things we watch for and sometimes the result isn’t there, but again those are just circumstances and it doesn’t change our responsibility or our effort or anything like that. I’m proud of this group and we’ll be there on Sunday.”

O’Leary credited Fortin for his play after being thrown into a 4-0 game and a tough environment in front of a crowd of over 11,000 at SaskTel Centre.

He suggests his team will be ready to play in front of a sold-out crowd at home.

“Be excited, we’re coming home and we’re playing good hockey,” he stated. “We give an effort like that again and we’ll be fine.”

Game 6 between the Warriors and Blades is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday in Moose Jaw.