The Saskatoon Blades skated away from the Peavey Mart Centrium Tuesday with the extra point after a 3-2 overtime victory against the Red Deer Rebels.
It was an impressive showing for the Blue and Gold as they outshot the Rebels 44-27 by game’s end, including a 21-3 edge in shots in the second period. Tuesday wasn’t as busy of a night for Blades sophomore netminder Evan Gardner, but the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect turned aside 25-of-27 Rebels shots en route to his 16th win of the season.
2007-born forward Kazden Mathies and 2007-born defenceman Jack Kachkowski made their Blades debuts following two separate trades Monday. Mathies, a Martensville, SK native, was acquired by Saskatoon from the Seattle Thunderbirds Monday morning. Kachkowski joined the Blue and Gold in the evening following a blockbuster deal that sent 2005-born players Tanner Molendyk and Misha Volotovskii to the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Blades reclaimed first place in the Eastern Conference with 48 points, two up on the Tigers and Calgary Hitmen. Saskatoon still has a game in hand over the Tigers, while the Hitmen have two games in hand over the Blades.
The Rebels opened the scoring 4:33 into the first period after forward Samuel Drancak potted his fourth goal of the season unassisted. The lone powerplay went Saskatoon’s way with 5:59 remaining in the frame, but the Rebels headed to the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.
The following two powerplays also went the Blade's way, but they could not cash in on either, thanks to stellar play from Rebels netminder Chase Wutzke. The damn finally broke as rookie winger Zach Olsen made it 1-1 just over halfway through the contest. The Calgary, AB product has six goals and nine assists in 33 games this season. Defenceman Brayden Klimpke picked up an assist in back-to-back games, while David Lewandowski’s secondary assist gives him eight goals and nine assists in 22 games.
The Blades outshot the Rebels 21-3 in the second period, leading in shots 33-13 after 40 minutes of play. Red Deer wasn’t pushed around when each side returned to the ice for the third.
Rebels forward Trae Wilke made it 2-1 seven minutes into the final frame with his eighth goal of the season. A 2-on-1 quickly developed, and the Saskatoon product picked up his 19th point in 38 games to put the Blades down one.
Saskatoon alternate captain Tyler Parr tied the game 2-2 46 seconds later with his 15th goal of the season goal. The La Salle, MB product, one-timed a shot in the slot after linemate Tanner Scott put it on his tape from behind the Rebels net. Scott was acquired by the Blades Thursday from the Victoria Royals and has a point in all three games since coming to the Bridge City.
The Rebels outshot the Blades 14-9 in the final period of regulation, but extra time was needed for the second time this season between the Eastern Conference rivals. Red Deer won the last meeting 5-4 on December 4 in a shootout at SaskTel Centre. Parr didn’t let it get that far again.
The 5-foot-11 winger swatted game a loose puck behind Rebels goalie Chase Wutzke 43 seconds into overtime to secure the second point for Saskatoon. Parr’s linemate Ben Riche elected to shoot on the 2-on-1 rush, but it was Parr who cleaned up the loose change. Parr has back-to-back two-goal games, giving him 16 goals and 22 assists in 36 games this season.
What’s Next?
The Blades ride up the road to Edmonton for a game against the Oil Kings on Wednesday at Rogers Place.
Puck drop is 8:00 p.m.
