A big first period and strong goaltending by Andrey Makarov was enough for the Saskatoon Blades as they knocked off the WHL’s top team on Saturday night.

The Blades scored three first period goals and ended up beating the Medicine Hat Tigers 5-1.

The Blades threw 19 shots on goal in the opening frame and managed to get three of those shots past Tyler Bunz.  Just three minutes into the game it was Brett Stovin getting on the board as he fired a slap shot past Bunz from the right circle.   Just over 10 minutes later it was the Tigers answering as Curtis Valk was able to beat Andrey Makarov as he was left wide open in the slot on the powerplay.

But, two more bang-bang goals put Saskatoon up by two as Jake Trask and Travis McEvoy both scored just over a minute apart to put Saskatoon up 3-1 after one period.

The second period didn’t have any scoring as the team’s combined for a total of 17 shots.  It also featured a scrap as Saskatoon-native Boston Leier took on Devan Fafard. 

In the third period the Tigers had chances to get back into the game with the man advantage but Makarov was the story in goal.  He made several key saves and the Blades managed to keep many of the chances to the outside.

Late penalty trouble for the Tigers ended up being the final blow as Matej Stransky was able to poke a puck past Bunz on a 5 on 3 at 12:51 of the third period to put the Blades up by three goals. 

Stransky would add his second of the night with five seconds left in the game as he hit the empty net.

Makarov was named the first star of the game with 25 saves while Medicine Hat product Darren Dietz took home the third star after picking up an assist and registering a +3.

A big key to the win for Saskatoon was the fact that they shutdown the league’s top two leading scorers in Emerson Etem and Hunter Shinkaruk. Etem was held pointless for only the second time this entire WHL season.

The Blades now hit the road and travel to Cranbrook, B.C. where they will take on the Kootenay Ice tomorrow night.  That game takes place at 6 local BC time, 7 PM in Saskatchewan.

Saskatoon Blades Hockey, It Starts Here!