Saskatoon’s Muyres rink on way to Brier
Blades forward assist shy of the Gordie hat trick during 6-3 romp over Brandon
The Saskatoon Blades are on a roll and Riley Mckay isn’t about to pull any punches.
Mckay sought out his inner Gordie Howe and nearly completed the Howe hat trick Sunday.
The rugged Mckay tallied twice and got in a fight to lead the host Blades to a 6-3 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings before an announced crowd of 4,815 at Sasktel Centre.
“I was pretty close to getting it, but I got two goals, a fight (with Brandon’s Braydyn Chizen) and a win, so I’m pretty happy,” said Mckay, who now has 11 goals this season for the Blades, who are 8-02 in their last 10 Western Hockey League games.
“It’s been awesome. Lots of guys have been stepping up and scoring and putting up points. We’ve been scoring lots of goals the last couple of games. We’ve just got to keep it rolling.”
With the victory, Saskatoon improved its WHL record this season to 34-13-8-0.
“It was a heck of a job by our guys staying the course and finding a way to have an unbelievable weekend for us,” said Blades head coach Mitch Love after his team picked up its fourth win in six days.
On Sunday afternoon, the Blades built a 3-0 lead before the Wheat Kings rallied and made a game of it. The host Saskatoon squad had to dig deep in the third to pull out the win.
“That was big because earlier on in the year, that wasn’t happening,” Love said. “We let games like this slip away. The big message in the dressing room is staying even-keel and re-setting ourselves after situations, whether it’s goals or periods or penalty kills or power plays. Our guys are still learning what that’s like, especially at this time of the year where opponents that we’re playing are fighting for playoff spots and there’s a lot more desperation on the line.”
Linden Mccorrister, with a short-handed goal, Ridly Greig and Stelio Mattheos scored for Brandon, which slipped to 23-223-4 this season and six points back of a wild-card playoff berth in the WHL’S Eastern Conference
The Blades maintain an eightpoint lead on the third-place Moose Jaw Warriors in the WHL’S East Division with the Warriors enjoying three games in hand.
Blades captain Chase Wouters also scored twice Sunday. Kyle Crnkovic and Dawson Davidson added singles for Saskatoon, which led 3-0 and 4-3 by periods.
“Obviously a great start in kind of a back-and-forth game. It was probably a little more pace than our legs allowed us to (maintain) as the game went on,” said Love. “I thought we looked a little fatigued and rightfully so after four games in six nights. I’m a little tired myself, so I don’t know how these guys are feeling now.”
The Blades outshot the Wheaties 37-28. Nolan Maier stopped 25 shots for the victory.
Both teams scored a pair of power-play goals on seven chances.
“I really like when games go like this — fast-paced and hard hitting,” said Mckay. “It’s lots of fun.”
It’s been awesome. Lots of guys have been stepping up and scoring and putting up points. We’ve been scoring lots of goals the last couple of games. We’ve just got to keep it rolling.
BLADES 4, BRONCOS 1
The Blades scored three unanswered goals in the third period for a 4-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos in WHL action Saturday in Swift Current.
Gary Haden, Mckay, Max Gerlach and Cyle Mcnabb, with an empty-netter, each scored once for the Blades, who outshot the Broncos 38-25.
Maier made 24 saves in the win. Saskatoon was 0-for-2 on the power play. Swift Current went 0-for-1 as the game featured only three minor penalties to go along with fighting majors assessed to Mckay and the Broncos’ Matthew Stanley.