The Saskatoon Blades have made history.
The Saskatoon Blades have made history. Not only will they advance to the second round of the playoffs after beating the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-2 in overtime Monday night, but the Blades also achieved a franchise first by winning a game seven contest away from home.
It was clear from the opening faceoff that the Blades had carried over their frustration from the narrow loss the previous evening. They came out hot and rained shot after shot at Edmonton Goalie Parker Snell, but weren’t able to find the mesh. For their part, the Oil Kings kept pace with Saskatoon. Once again, the two teams matched each other perfectly; it was a scoreless opening period.
As play moved into the second, the Blades continued to dictate the pace of the game. They resumed their relentless assault on Snell, but it would take several penalties before Saskatoon could score. While the Blades were unable to convert on a penalty to Adam Jecho, the Oil Kings received two more penalties just as that penalty expired, meaning the Blades would go straight back to the power-play, this time with a two man advantage. It didn’t take long in the super power-play for David Lewandowski to bury one in the back of the net to open the scoring.
Likewise, it would take a penalty for Edmonton to get on the board as well. Shortly after the Lewandowski goal, a penalty to Jordan Martin for holding would allow Aaron Obobaifo to score only six seconds into the power-play and the game was tied once more.
Shortly after, Obobaifo would leave the ice briefly after a hit from Zach Olsen that landed him in the box for two minutes, but the Oil Kings could not capitalize, and the period would end deadlocked at 1-1.
In the third period, history seemed to be repeating itself. Both teams were giving everything they had on the ice, and neither could get a leg up over the other. Things looked grim for the Blades when Gavin Hodnett put one past Evan Gardner with less than six minutes remaining, but Cooper Williams was quick to even up the score once more on the very next play to make it 2-2.
The game would be scoreless for the remainder of the third, and for the third time in the series, and the second in as many nights, the Blades were headed to overtime.
Three minutes into overtime, Gavin Clarke received a hooking call and the Oil Kings, who had won the previous night on a power-play goal, looked to finish the series with the man advantage. Gardner stood on his head to stop several shots, even without a stick, and the rest of the Blades’ penalty kill did a stupendous job clearing the puck to kill the penalty successfully.
Moments later, it was the Blades’ turn for the power-play when Kanjyu Gojsic, charging the net, was penalized for goalie interference. Rowan Calvert seized the opportunity and scored the game-winning goal by deflecting a shot from Lewandowski into the net, giving the Blades the 3-2 victory.
The Blades will now take on the rival Prince Albert Raiders in the second round of the playoffs.