WHL Saskatoon Blades

Blades Topple Rival Wheat Kings at Home

Published on February 20, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


The Saskatoon Blades battled their way to an important 6-4 win over the division rival Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday evening at home.

Darian Dziurzynski (Lloydminster, AB), Marek Viedensky (Handlova, Slovakia), Gaelan Patterson (Saskatoon, SK), Jeremy Boyer (Saskatoon, SK), Jyri Niemi (Hameenkyro, Finland), and Derek Hulak (Saskatoon, SK) scored for the Blades, who move back into a first place tie with the Wheaties on top of the WHL's Eastern Conference with the win.

Saskatoon - 1st - Dziurzynski (Brent Benson, Dalton Thrower) 4:02 The Blades jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Dziurzynski's 12th of the year. Jeremy Boyer (Saskatoon, SK) forced a turnover behind the net and Benson (Weyburn, SK) grabbed the loose puck. He then pulled it out in front and fed a cross-crease pass to Dziurzynski, who put a one-timer from his knees past goaltender Andrew Hayes.

Brandon - 1st - Brayden Schenn (Scott Glennie, Matt Calvert) 9:20 The Wheat Kings evened the score a little over five minutes later. Glennie streaked down the left side into the Blades' zone and fired a hard wrist shot on Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) that was stopped. The rebound kicked out into the slot and Schenn made no mistake on it, putting home his 26th of the season.

Brandon - 1st - Colby Robak (Schenn, Shayne Wiebe) 10:41 pp Robak made it a 2-1 game on his 14th of the campaign. The 19-year-old defenseman took a nifty feed from Schenn in the slot and put a wrist shot to the back of the net on the power play.

Brandon - 1st - Jay Fehr (Aaron Lewadniuk, Toni Rajala) 12:04 pp Fehr gave the Wheaties a two-goal lead on his 24th of the year. The overage forward took a feed from behind the net from Lewadniuk at the top of the crease and one-timed it past Stanford to make 3-1.

Saskatoon - 1st - Viedensky (Sam Klassen, Stefan Elliott) 14:49 Viedensky brought the Blades back within one on his 15th of the season. Klassen (Watrous, SK) hammered at a loose puck from the point that missed the net wide. The puck bounced off the back wall to the opposite side of the net where Viedensky was waiting and put the puck into an empty net.

Saskatoon - 2nd - Patterson (Dziurzynski, Sena Acolatse) 1:05 The Blades evened the score early in the second period on Patterson's 22nd on the campaign. Dziurzynski picked up an assist after drilling a snap shot from the right side that was stopped. Patterson jumped on the rebound to Hayes' right and deposited it into the yawning cage and it was 3-3.

Saskatoon - 2nd - Boyer 13:27 Boyer gave the Blades a 4-3 lead with less than seven minutes left in the middle frame on his 10th of the year. The 19-year-old grabbed an errant pass from the Wheat Kings at the hash marks, moved towards the net, and slid the puck under the left pad of Hayes to chase the starting goaltender from the game.

Brandon - 3rd - Jordan Hale (Robak) 9:47 Hale made it 4-4 midway through the third on his 3rd of the season. The 19-year-old tracked down a loose puck inside the red line, moved in on a break, and fired a laser to the top corner glove side.

Saskatoon - 3rd - Niemi (Acolatse, Walker Wintoneak) 12:31 pp The Blades regained the lead for the final time on the 8th of the campaign from Niemi. The third-year defenseman took a feed from Acolatse (Edmonton, AB) at the middle point and fired a slap shot through a crowd past a screened Jacob De Serres to make it 5-4.

Saskatoon - 3rd - Hulak (Wintoneak) 19:16 en Hulak sealed the victory for the home squad with an empty netter and his 27th of the year. The Blades captain secured the puck inside his own zone, worked a give-and-go with Wintoneak (Flin Flon, MB) through the neutral zone, and fired the puck to the back of the net from outside the blue line.

Stanford made 23 saves in the Blades net to earn the victory. Hayes started the game for Brandon and stopped 19 of 21 shots. De Serres came on in relief and turned aside 2 of 3 shots to the loss in between the pipes.

Final score Saskatoon Blades 6, Brandon Wheat Kings 4.

With the win, the Blades improve their season record to 41-14-3-3 for 88 points on the season. The Wheat Kings fall to 42-17-1-3 for 88 points. The two teams now sit tied for first in the Eastern Conference with the Blades holding two games in hand.

The Bridge City Bunch returns to action on Tuesday night at home against the Chilliwack Bruins. The game marks the second Budget Car and Truck Rental Raincheck Night of the Year. Fans can bring any unused season tickets to the game and get in for just $2.

Check out the Saskatoon Blades Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 20, 2010


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