The Saskatoon Blades suffered defeat for just the fourth time in regulation this season after falling 5-4 at the hands of the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday night.Charles Inglis (Saskatoon, SK), Burke Gallimore (Edmonton, AB), Derek Hulak (Saskatoon, SK), and Travis Toomey (Leduc, AB) scored for the Blades, who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end.
Calgary took a 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the first period on a Joel Broda shorthanded marker. For the 20-year-old forward it was his 13th goal of the season.
Inglis tied the game up less than three minutes later while on the power play. The sophomore forward took a Josh Nicholls' (Tsawwassen, BC) pass to the left of the Calgary net and, from the faceoff circle, spun and put wrist shot past goaltender Martin Jones.
The Hitmen regained their lead before the opening frame was closed. Ian Schultz redirected a Giffen Nyren centering pass in front of the Blades' net and it was 2-1.
Brandon Kozun made it 3-1 at the 5:03 mark of the second period. Broda forced a turnover just inside the Blades' blue line, Kozun grabbed the loose puck, and moving in on a 2-on-1 put a snap shot low blocker side past goaltender Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB).
Broda picked up his second of the night with six minutes remaining in the middle period. Kozun this time was the distributor, finding Broda to Stanford's left and it was 4-1.
The Hitmen made it 5-1 just 15 seconds into the third period when Kozun completed a give-and-go with Tyler Fiddler in the Blades' end for his 13th on the campaign.
The Blades began their comeback midway through the period while on the power play. Dalton Thrower (North Vancouver, BC) had his pass redirected to Gaelan Patterson (Saskatoon, SK) at the side of the Calgary net, who then found Gallimore in front and the veteran forward deposited his 9th of the year to make 5-2.
Hulak brought the Blades within two less than three minutes later. The overage forward took a beautiful saucer feed from Walker Wintoneak (Flin Flon, MB) on a 2-on-1 and made a forehand-to-backhand move on Jones for his 13th of the season.
The Blades made it a one-goal game with 23.6 seconds left in the final frame as Toomey redirected a Hulak pass from the corner over Jones' glove for his 6th of the year.
But it was a case of too little, too late as the Blades could not get the equalizer.
Final score Calgary Hitmen 5, Saskatoon Blades 4.
Stanford made 25 saves in between the pipes for the Blades and suffered his first defeat in a Blades' uniform. Jones turned aside 18 of 22 shots for the victory for the Hitmen.
The Blades see their record go to 20-4-0-3 on the season for 43 points and remain in first in both the East Division and Eastern Conference. The Hitmen improve to 20-8-1-0 for 41 points and sit just two points back of the Blades for first in the Eastern Conference.
The Blades now hit the road for three games this week. On Wednesday, the Bridge City Bunch is Brandon to take on the Wheat Kings, before travelling to Alberta for a pair of weekend games against Medicine Hat on Friday and Red Deer on Saturday. Follow the action live on 92.9 The Bull with Les Lazaruk each and every night. The games can also be viewed on WHL WebTV.
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