Ice outplay Blades, still lose

The Score – Saskatoon 1 – Kootenay 2

What Happened – If you hadn’t seen a game where one team utterly dominated another but didn’t win, you have now. Kootenay had more chances than a Vegas high-roller to cash-in but converted only on a 1st period 5-on-3.

The Turning Point – During a battle in the Ice end D Jagger Dirk lost his stick and tried to move or cover the puck while on his knees. Stuck three or four times by Josh Nicholls Dirk came up with a fore-arm smash and it earned him two minutes. The Blades’ power play went to work and Benson deposited the game-winner.

The Goals – The one blemish on an otherwise dominant opening period cost the Ice, giving the high-powered Blades a 5-on-3 a minute and half into the game. The Blades converted as Darren Dietz’ point shot found the back of the net through a crowd. 1-0 Blades… The Ice returned the favour at the end the period as they enjoyed a 5-on-3 of their own in the last minute. Max Reinhart delayed in the slot long enough to fire a wrist shot past Blade netminder Andrey Makarov. 1-1… With just over five minutes left in the third Dirk took a bad roughing penalty and it cost him. With a dynamite power play the Blades had four point blank chances that Lieuwen stopped or, in Stransky’s case, hit the post. Lieuwen stopped three more late in the power play but couldn’t stop the fourth as Brent Benson fired the go-ahead goal into the net for a 2-1 lead… It would turn out to be the game-winner.

The Lines – Jaedon Descheneau, 16, replaced Sam Reinhart on the Ice’ second unit on the wing with Pearce and McKinley. Reinhart’s demotion didn’t last long however as an elbow to the head of Eric Benoit in the first period forced Coach K to juggle the lines. Knoblauch was adamant that the change wasn’t so much a reflection of Sam but rather reward for Descheneau playing well of late.

The Expensive Souvenir – About six minutes into the first – Jon Martin’s first shift – he was hit by a Blade but managed to avoid most of it. His $300 twig ended up in row five behind the Ice bench. The gracious fan gave it back.

The Next Vopat – The Mites were at it during the intermission. Team White featured Brendan Vopat, son of former NHL’er and current head coach of the Kimberley Dynamiters, Roman. The younger version notched one on Shivers.

The Save – In the second after about four minutes of end-to-end action – well, mostly in the Blades end where Makarov stopped four quality Ice chances – Blade leading scorer Josh Nicholls was sprung on the partial breakway and managed to slip the puck through Lieuwen’s legs. The 20-year-old goaltender managed to swing his backleg enough to knock the puck wide before it went over the line.

The Goaltender – Blade import netminder Andrey Makarov was strong on the night. But I’ll go out on a limb and say he wasn’t lights out, just in the right place, for 36 of 37 shots.

An errant elbow – forced Ice forward Eric Benoit from the game in the first period. He didn’t return. I’ll bet it’s an upper body injury.

The Scoring; or lack thereof - Having scored 60 goals on the season, just over 3 goals a game at 17th in the WHL, it's an issue that will at some point have to be addressed. Yes, they're the best defensive team in the league at 2.14 GAA having only given up 45 goals in 21 games but tonight proved that yet another good effort by their goaltender isn't always going to do it.

The Roadie – Due to the Canada Cup of Curling the Ice now embark on a 9-game road trip, broken up into a five-game trip through the BC Division and then a four-game sojourn through the prairies. Most agree that this trip should provide the litmus test on the 2011-12 version of the Ice.

The Crowd – 2572 – Just fewer than 500 less than the night prior which were treated to a much better game, go figure.

Rec Plex Three Stars

1. G Andrey Makarov – Stopped almost everything the Ice threw at him.
2. C Max Reinhart – 1 goal and enough chances to shake a stick at
3. D Joey Leach – Best D-man on the Ice, what he needs to be every night.

What it means – The Ice finish their seven-game home stand at 4-1-2 but now embark on a three week nine game road trip that could define their season. The Blades leapfrog the Ice for first in the Eastern Conference while the Ice drop to 13-5-1-2; 29 points and 3rd in the Central.

Up Next: Their first trip to Victoria to take on the Royals Friday.

Summary:

Blades 2 @ Ice 1

CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Saskatoon Blades and the Kootenay Ice; November 13, 2011
Brent Benson scored a late power play goal as the Saskatoon Blades stole a 2-1 win over the Kootenay Ice in WHL action Sunday night.
The Blades opened the scoring on an early first period 5-on-3 power play as Darren Dietz rifled a point shot that Ice goaltender Nathan Lieuwen didn’t see. The Ice tied it on a 5-on-3 of their own late in the first period as Max Reinhart scored his 9th of the season at 19:14 to tie it at one.
That would be all the scoring until Benson’s power play marker that held up at the game-winner.
Andrey Makarov stopped 36 of 37 shots and was terrific in gaining the win while Nathan Lieuwen was also sharp, stopped 22 of 24 shots in taking the loss.


First Period
1. Saskatoon, Dietz 4 (Stransky) 2:56 (pp)
2. Kootenay, M. Reinhart 9 (Leach, Paulsen) 19:14 (pp)

Penalties – Benoit Ktn (holding) 1:37, Neibrandt Ktn (hooking) 1:48, McEvoy Sas (high-sticking) 7:52, Nicholls Sas (slashing) 10:18, Wand Ktn (high-sticking) 16:56, Sutter Sas (interference) 18:23, Siemens Sas (kneeing) 19:03.

Second Period

No Scoring.

Penalties – Wand Ktn (elbowing) 3:06, Ismond Ktn (holding-the-stick) 18:22.

Third Period
3. Saskatoon, Benson 4 (Paradis, Sutter) 15:49 (pp)

Penalties – Siemens Sas (roughing) 2:42, Dirk Ktn (roughing) 14:10,

Shots on goal by:
Kootenay: 13 16 8 - 37
Saskatoon: 5 6 13 - 24

Goal -- Kootenay: Nathan Lieuwen (L, 10-4-1-2); Saskatoon: Andrey Makarov (W, 13-5)

Power plays (goals-chances)
Saskatoon: 2-6
Kootenay: 1-5

Referee – Kevin Webinger, Derek Zalaski. Linesman – Scott Sharun, Jim Maniago

Attendance – 2572 (4264)

Scratches --
Saskatoon: Devan Fafard, Kyle Haas.
Kootenay: Mike Simpson, Brendan Hurley (knee – one week), Levi Cable.