A clutch powerplay and big time goaltending was the recipe for success on Sunday night as the Saskatoon Blades won their fifth game in a row.

The Blades got a late powerplay goal from assistant captain Brent Benson to lift them past the Kootenay Ice 2-1.

It was one of the lowest scoring games of the season for Saskatoon, but they were able to get on the board early.  Darren Dietz got the game going as his powerplay point shot found its way through traffic and into the back of the net at 2:56 of the first period.   Matej Stransky drew the lone assist on the tally, Dietz’ fourth of the season.

The Ice were able to respond late in the frame as Calgary Flames prospect Max Reinhart scored his 9^th goal of the season from the high slot.  That goal was also a powerplay marker and it came at 19:13 of the first period and the frame ended with the game tied at one.

Goaltending was the story in period two as the Ice put on the pressure.  Andrey Makarov stood tall in his 18^th game of the season as he made 16 saves in the second period alone for Saskatoon.  The Blades put 6 shots on the Kootenay goal in period two.

The tight checking continued into the third period and once again special teams played a big role. 

A roughing penalty to Jagger Dirk put Saskatoon up a man with under 5 minutes to play in the game and they didn’t waste the opportunity.  Brent Benson was able to find the puck in a scramble and bang it home past Nathan Lieuwen to put Saskatoon up 2-1.  It was also the 4^th goal of the season for Benson as he was able to find the puck after 3-4 nice saves on the penalty kill by the Ice keeper Lieuwen.

A timeout and a pulled goalie never resulted in much for the Ice as the Blades held on, winning 2-1 and continuing their winning ways in the regular season against the Ice. 

Saskatoon went 4-0-0-0 against Kootenay last year, and have now won the first meeting between the teams this year.

As mentioned, special teams were a big key to the game as the Blades were 2 for 6 on the powerplay and the Ice went 1 for 5.  Andrey Makarov was once again the first star of a game for the Blades as the Russian keeper stopped 36 shots to win his 13^th game of the year.

Saskatoon now has almost a full week off as they return to action next Friday in Red Deer.  They also play on Saturday as the team travels to Calgary.

Saskatoon Blades Hockey, It Starts Here!