The Saskatoon Blades take to the road tonight for a divisional matchup with the Brandon Wheat Kings. Game time at Westman Communications Group Place is 7:30 pm.Head-to-Head
The Blades and Wheat Kings have faced each other once previously this season. The Wheaties came away with a 3-0 victory on home ice over the Blades on October 3rd. Colby Robak had a goal and two assists while Del Cowan and Scott Glennie added the other markers. Andrew Hayes made 25 saves in the Wheat Kings' net for the shutout victory. At the other end, Adam Morrison (White Rock, BC) stopped 29 shots in defeat for the Blades.
Saskatoon Blades
The Blades (16-3-0-3, 1st in East Division, 1st in Eastern Conference) are coming off of a 7 games in 9-day stretch. In the final game of the stretch last Saturday, the Bridge City Bunch came away with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. Walker Wintoneak (Flin Flon, MB), Jeremy Boyer (Saskatoon, SK), and Duncan Siemens (Sherwood Park, AB) scored for the Blades in regulation while Burke Gallimore (Edmonton, AB) and Boyer clinched the victory in the shootout contest. Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) made 24 saves for the win between the pipes.
Derek Hulak (Saskatoon, SK) leads the Blades in scoring this season with 9 goals and 20 assists for 29 points, good enough for a tie for 8th in the Western Hockey League. Wintoneak is second in Blades' scoring with 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points. Gaelan Patterson (Saskatoon, SK) remains third on the team with 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points. Stefan Elliott (North Vancouver, BC) leads all Blades' rearguards with 8 goals and 11 assists for 19 points, which puts the third-year player seventh amongst Western Hockey League defensemen.
The Blades are led in goal scoring by Wintoneak, who has 12 markers on the season.
Forwards Randy McNaught (Nanaimo, BC) and Darian Dziurzynski (Lloydminster, AB) remain one-two in the Western Hockey League in penalty minutes with 79 and 69 apiece.
The Blades currently feature the 2nd through 5th-ranked players in the Western Hockey League in the plus/minus category in Wintoneak (+19), Elliott (+19), Sam Klassen (Watrous, SK) (+18), and Hulak (+18).
In goal, Morrison has seen action in 15 games this season, putting together a 9-3-0-3 record with a 2.42 goals against average (4th in the WHL), and a.918 save percentage (4th in the WHL). Stanford, meanwhile, has appeared in 9 games this season, compiling a record of 7-2-0-0 with a 2.11 goals against average (2nd in the WHL) and a.914 save percentage (6th in the WHL).
The Blades sport the 21st-ranked power play in the WHL, working at a 12.1% clip on the season. The penalty killing unit comes into tonight ranked 2nd in the league, killing off 88.7% of shorthanded situations.
Brandon Wheat Kings
The Wheat Kings (12-8-0-2, T-2nd in East Division, T-3rd in Eastern Conference) enter tonight's contest on the heels of a 7-3 victory over the Prince George Cougars on Wednesday afternoon at home.
Brayden Schenn is atop the team's scoring list with 9 goals and 18 assists for 27 points. Jay Fehr is second with 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points. Colby Robak leads the team's defensemen in scoring with 3 goals and 13 assists for 16 points on the campaign.
Veteran forward Matt Calvert has 12 goals on the season to lead the team in that category.
Rookie Ryley Miller is first on the team with 55 penalty minutes so far this season.
Robak is tops on the team with a +14 rating on the season.
Hayes has made 16 appearances in goal for the Wheat Kings this season, putting together a 10-5-0-1 record with a 2.62 goals against average and a.907 save percentage. Jacob De Serres, acquired by the Wheaties earlier this season from Seattle, has played in 8 games between the two clubs with a 2-5-0-1 record to go along with a 3.59 goals against average and a.876 save percentage.
The Wheat Kings' power play unit is ranked 13th in the WHL, working at an 18.3% rate this season. While shorthanded, the team has killed off 73.9% of chances for a ranking of 21st in the league.
Fans can follow the action live tonight on 92.9 The Bull with play-by-play man Les Lazaruk. The game can also be purchased on WHL WebTV.
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