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Warriors 4, Blades 3 (OT)
Brayden Yager came home to score an overtime winner Friday.
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The former Saskatoon Contacts forward netted the game-winner at 12:44 of extra time to give his visiting Moose Jaw Warriors a 4-3 victory over the Saskatoon Blades before nearly 9,000 fans at SaskTel Centre.
With the goal from the Penguins prospect, Moose Jaw takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Hockey League Eastern Conference final series.
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Game 2 goes Saturday night back at SaskTel Centre.
The third and fourth games of the series will be played in Moose Jaw on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
“I definitely think there’s room for improvement,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne. “Just like any first game in a series, you’re seeing what adjustments there are … It’s a little bit of a feel-out, so we’re going to do what we always do and prepare players for success.”
Egor Sidorov had scored the tying goal for the Blades with just 1:27 remaining in regulation to send the game into extra time Friday.
“We go down,” said Blades D-man Tanner Molendyk, “but we know we’re not out.”
It was Sidorov’s second goal of the game and 12th of the playoffs thus far.
Charlie Wright opened the scoring for the Blades at 3:05 of the first period before Sidorov gave Saskatoon a 2-0 lead early in the second period.
Moose Jaw responded with three unanswered goals from Brayden Schuurman, Atley Calvert and Matthew Savoie.
Schuurman’s goal came just 14 seconds after Sidorov made it 2-zip.
“That was the big turning point,” admitted Sonne. “We had all the momentum and then, in five seconds, it was gone.”
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The Blades outshot the Warriors 31-26.
Jackson Unger made 28 saves for Moose Jaw. Evan Gardner stopped 22 shots for Saskatoon.
The Blades went 0-for-1, failing to capitalize on the game’s lone power play opportunity.
Game 1 has not been kind to the Blades in recent years during the WHL playoffs and Friday’s game was no exception. They’ll have a chance to turn the series around, much like they had done against the Prince Albert Raiders, with a win in Game 2 Saturday.
BREAKAWAYS: With forward Easton Armstrong still serving a suspension, and Tyler Parr on the injured list, the Blades went with 11 forwards and seven defencemen for Friday’s game. Armstrong will also miss Saturday’s game as he sits out the final game of his suspension for a hit on Red Deer Rebels goalie Chase Wutzke.
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