Blades Salvage Single Point against Broncos

The Saskatoon Blades and Swift Current Broncos opened their weekend home-and-home set with the Broncos claiming a 4-3 overtime win on Credit Union Centre ice on Friday night.

Marek Viedensky (Handlova, Slovakia) had two goals while Brent Benson (Weyburn, SK) added a single for a Blades squad that has just one win in its last five games to end off a tough month of January.

Saskatoon – 1^st – Viedensky (Jyri Niemi, Jeremy Boyer) 15:10
The Blades jumped out to a 1-0 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the opening frame. Boyer (Saskatoon, SK) put the puck back to Niemi (Hameenkyro, Finland) at the point and the 19-year-old sent a wrist shot on net that was redirected by Viedensky for his 8^th of the year.

Swift Current – 2^nd – Cody Eakin 4:19 sh
Eakin tied things up on a gritty individual effort while a man down for his 36^th of the season. The veteran forward intercepted a pass at his own blue line, walked in on a breakaway and beat goaltender Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) to make it 1-1.

Saskatoon – 2^nd – Benson (Charles Inglis, Stefan Elliott) 4:49 pp
Benson regained the Blades’ lead just 30 seconds later as the Blades ended an 0/44 slump on the power play. Inglis (Saskatoon, SK) fired a quick shot from the right half boards that was stopped, the freshman Benson jumped on the rebound and beat Swift Current goaltender Mark Friesen glove side for his 6^th on the campaign.

Swift Current – 2^nd – Stepan Novotny (Matt Tassone) 9:15
The Broncos tied the game at two on Novotny’s 22^nd of the year. Tassone gained the Blades zone and went wide on a Saskatoon defender before getting a shot off that was stopped. Novotny followed up on the rebound and knifed it home to make the score 2-2.

Saskatoon – 2^nd – Viedensky (Josh Nicholls, Derek Hulak) 19:29 pp
Viedensky deposited his second of the night and 5^th since being acquired by the Blades at the trade deadline before the second period was closed on a beautiful give-and-go. The Slovak moved across the Broncos line and fed a backhand pass to Nicholls (Tsawwassen, BC), who in turn sent it back. With an empty net facing him, Viedensky made no mistake and it was 3-2.

Swift Current – 3^rd– Michael Stickland (Derek Claffey) 14:16
Stickland tied things up with 5:44 remaining in regulation with his 15^th of the season. The overage forward willed his way past a Blade defender and with one hand on stick managed to squeak one through Stanford’s five-hole and force the game to overtime.

Swift Current – OT – Taylor Vause (Justin Dowling) 2:42
The Broncos ended things on Vause 11^th of the year less than three minutes into the extra frame. Dowling moved with speed around the back of the Blades net and found a streaking Vause in front and the 18-year-old put one in off the post and give the Broncos the victory.

Stanford was the busier of the two netminders and stopped 39 of 43 shots in a losing cause. Mark Friesen made 31 saves to claim the win for Swift Current in goal.

Final score Swift Current Broncos 4, Saskatoon Blades 3 (OT).

The loss drops the Blades record to 33-11-3-3 for 72 points on the season. The Broncos, meanwhile, improve to 26-23-0-3 record for 53 points on the season.

The Blades and Broncos get back at it tomorrow night at the Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current. Game time is 7:30 pm. Listen to the game live with Les Lazaruk on 92.9 The Bull.

Foxy's Lounge and Eatery Hidden Question: To win lunch for 2 at Foxy's Lounge and Eatery, please find the answer to the following question (the answer can be found somewhere on the Blades website) and send your answer to michaels@saskatoonblades.com: Who is Poke Check's favourite singers? (Poke Check's Lair)

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