WHL Saskatoon Blades

Gameday: Blades vs ICE at 7:00pm CST

Published on May 2, 2023 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


Here we go again.

The Saskatoon Blades return home for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Championship vs the Winnipeg ICE.

The Blades find themselves down 2-0 in the series, but if these playoffs have shown people anything, you can never count this team out!

3-0 series deficits, come-from-behind overtime victories, the Blue and Goal has overcome it all, and they need your help to do it again!

Lower bowl tickets are almost gone, make sure to get your tickets and blow the roof off SaskTel Centre for your Saskatoon Blades!

Doors open at 5:30, puck drop is 7:00pm.

Tonight

Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Championship shifts to SaskTel Centre Tuesday as the Saskatoon Blades (8-8) look to crawl back into the series vs the Winnipeg ICE (10-2). It's the third consecutive series the Blades find themselves down 2-0, the only difference being they're returning home for games 3 and 4 instead of hitting the road.

Saskatoon lost 3-0 Friday at Wayne Fleming Arena before dropping Game 2 6-2 the following afternoon.

The Blue and Gold have only been withheld from the scoresheet twice this year, both courtesy of the ICE. Despite the score in Game 2, the Blades had some positives to bring with them back home. After going 0/8 on the man-advantage the powerplay final broke through in the third period thanks to Carrot River, SK's own Jayden Wiens' eighth of the postseason.

An electric atmosphere awaits the Bridge City Bunch as the club is averaging the highest attendance in the WHL at over 9000, also boasting seven of the top ten single game attendances through two rounds.

Who to Watch

19-year-old winger Justin Lies broke Winnipeg goalie Daniel Hauser's shutout streak 110:48 into the series. The Flin Flon, MB. product blew past Minnesota Wild first-round pick Carson Lambos before sneaking his second of the postseason through the 5-foot-11 netminder. Lies returned in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Championship after serving a three-game suspension and hasn't wasted time making his presence felt. The 6-foot-2 bruiser has three points in 13 playoff games after registering a career best 23 points in 56 regular season games.

Saskatoon hit the nail on the head when they drafted Jayden Wiens in the eighth round in 2018. The 5-foot-9 center has ten points these playoffs after 27 in 42 games during the regular season. Wiens missed two months due to injury in the middle of the season and tallied 14 points in 19 games when he returned. Whenever Saskatoon needs a spark Wiens along with linemates Lies and Vaughn Watterodt are typically the crew tasked with doing so.

The Belarusian machine known as Egor Sidorov can explode offensively at any moment. The 6-foot sniper scored five goals in the six regular season meetings between the two clubs, including a hat-trick Nov. 26th at SaskTel Centre. Sidorov has four multi-goal games these playoffs, leading the Blades with nine total, six delivered on the man-advantage. The fan-favourite winger is second on the team in points with 19 in 16 games, trailing linemate Trevor Wong who has 20 in as many outings.

Check out the Saskatoon Blades Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from May 2, 2023


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