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For the second game in a row, the Saskatoon Blades lost 5-4, after Ben Kindel scored 29 seconds into overtime to give the visiting Calgary Hitmen the Western Hockey League victory on Saturday night.
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Tanner Molendyk opened the scoring for the Blades two minutes and 11 seconds into the opening period, only for Calgary’s Oliver Tulk to score with less than five minutes remaining in the first and tie the game heading into the intermission.
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In the second period, Brandon Lisowsky quickly got the one-goal lead back for the Blades, but the Hitmen answered back with three goals of their own to take a 4-2 lead after forty minutes.
Hudson Kibblewhite scored his fourth goal of the season for Saskatoon at 6:40 into the third period to cut Calgary’s lead to one and Lisowsky added his second goal of the game at 15:02 to tie and force the eventual overtime.
In net, Evan Gardner made 21 saves on 26 shots for the Blades, while across the ice, Eric Tu stopped 22 of 26 shots for the Hitmen.
Earlier in the week on Wednesday night, the Blades also lost 5-4 to the visiting Red Deer Rebels. That game required a shootout to declare a victor.
Despite these losses, Saskatoon still sits in first place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 17-6-2-2 record for 38 points in 27 games. The only team they trail in the league overall are the Everett Silvertips who have 49 points in 29 games.
Saskatoon will be on the road for their next three games, taking on the Medicine Hat Tigers on Tuesday, the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday and the Regina Pats on Friday, before returning home on Dec. 15 to take on the Brandon Wheat Kings in their final game before the holiday break.
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BLADES NOTES
Rookie forward David Lewandowski was invited to Germany’s tryout for the World Junior Championship. Lewandowski was drafted by the Blades in the second round (120th overall) in the 2024 CHL Import Draft.
The Blades signed 16-year-old American forward Gavin Clark to a WHL standard player agreement on Dec. 3. The Newport Beach, California product has 11 goals and 19 assists in 26 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 16U AAA team this season.
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