The Saskatoon Blades have been especially sharp on the Western Hockey League road.
For nine of their 15 wins this season they’ve been the visitors.
Their latest conquest came Saturday in Prince George Cougar territory, where the Blades began a five-game tour of the B.C. Division with a 4-1 win in front of 3,125 witnesses at CN Centre.
For first-year Blades head coach Mitch Love and his assistant Bryan Marsh, who were born and raised in Quesnel, an hour’s drive south, a win in Prince George is as close to home as they’ll ever get as WHL coaches and they were savouring the moment, knowing it was a narrower escape for the Blades than the score would indicate.
“It wasn’t pretty on both sides as a hockey game, from a fan’s perspective, a lot of missed opportunities and both teams had some looks but either missed the net or didn’t execute,” said Love, who played five years in the WHL with Moose Jaw, Swift Current and Everett before embarking on a six-year pro career as a defenceman.
“I give a lot of credit to our guys, they stuck with it and drew some penalties in the third period and we kind of found our game a bit and that gave us some opportunity. We spend a lot of time on special teams, especially on power plays. We’re still trying to find our way but it was big goal and our penalty kill did its job tonight too.”
The Blades went 1-for-6 with the extra skater while the Cougars were 0-for-3.
The Cats got on the board first but it took a video replay to confirm the puck Mike MacLean jammed in from the side of the net crossed the line before it came back out. That happened 2:04 into the game, right after the six-foot-seven MacLean introduced Blades defenceman Zachary Ashton to the end boards with a crushing-but-clean shoulder check.
The Blades wasted no time getting back on even terms and Max Gerlach provided that spark, cashing in on the game’s first penalty just 3:45 in. Gerlach had the puck on his stick for only a split-second as he drove to the net through the slot to redirect a feed from centre Gary Haden. The Texas-born Gerlach finished with a goal and an assist and was named the game’s first star.
Haden also drew an assist on the game-winner 23 seconds before the first intermission when Seth Bafaro left his point position and unloaded a 30-foot wristshot that sailed in over Taylor Gauthier’s glove.
It remained a one-goal game until the 10-minute mark of the third period when Eric Florchuk sunk the dagger. Playing the left side on a line with Gerlach and Blades scoring leader Kirby Dach, Florchuk was left uncovered in front after Gauthier robbed Gerlach with a glove save. Emil Malysjev tracked down the rebound and fed the puck to Florchuk, whose flick-of-the-wrist snipe from the slot found the top corner.
The Cougars failed to generate many quality chances and were held to just 22 shots, rarely taking Blades goalie Nolan Maier out of his comfort zone. Four of those Cougar shots came off the stick of the ever-energetic Reid Perepeluk, who came close to scoring his first of the season with a backhanded wraparound in the second period.
Gauthier was about to leave his crease to go to the bench when Norwegian import winger Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen intercepted the puck and let go a blast from the top of the circle which fooled the 17-year-old netminder to cap the scoring with about a minute left.
The 20-year-old MacLean maintained his physicality and had one of his best games as a Cougar. He was rewarded with plenty of icetime playing on a line with Tyson Upper and Matej Toman and also drew time on penalty kills.
Aside from the first Saskatoon goal the Cougars penalty-killers held their ground and were at their best midway through the second period. Despite a full minute of being two men short they limited the Blades to just one shot.
“It was a tough one, we played good and we were getting chances on net but just couldn’t find a way to get the puck in the net,” said MacLean. “Playing with those two guys, they’re pretty skilled guys. I just like to dump-and-chase and get after the puck and it’s nice having those guys around you feeding the puck. My legs felt really good tonight.”
Ilijah Colina also played a key roll as one of the Cats’ penalty-killing forwards, winning draws and keeping the Blades from getting their shots through. Colina, 18, was sporting a cut over his eye after narrowly avoiding a serious injury the night before when he got hit from behind headfirst into the boards in the Cougars’ 5-3 win over the Regina Pats.
“Me and (Josh Curtis) work well together on PK, that’s one of our main roles,” said Colina.
“It could have gone either way, it just seemed they were capitalizing on their chances. I made a mistake in the d-zone (allowing Florchuk to get open on the third Blades goal) and that just can’t happen in a tight game like that.”
The Cougars headed out on the bus for Kennewick, Wash., where they’ll meet the Tri-City Americans tonight. The Cats will play in Spokane Wednesday night, then return for their final home games of 2018 – a Saturday-Sunday weekend series with the Victoria Royals.
The Sunday afternoon game will feature the annual teddy-bear/warm winter clothing toss.
“Tri-City came up and took two games in our building (in October) so we’ll be ready,” said Colina, a former Portland Winterhawk. “Those two teams, Spokane and Tri, feed off their fans and we have to come out as a typical road team – throw hits and play fast and keep it simple.”
