Haden shines as Saskatoon Blades split weekend set

The Saskatoon Blades kept a vital point streak alive in splitting a weekend series of games on Friday and Saturday.

The Blades started on Friday by beating the Regina Pats 3-1. A night later, the team returned to Sasktel Centre and let a 4-3 game slip away to the Edmonton Oil Kings in overtime.

The overtime loss kept the Blades’ six-game point streak alive as they continue to narrowly lead the Moose Jaw Warriors for second place in the east division.

It was certainly a productive weekend for Blades forward Gary Haden as he went back-to-back nights with two goals.

Those efforts pushed his season total to 24 goals and set a new career high in points at 45 points. The hot streak also means Haden has nine goals in his last four games.

Saskatoon was the first to strike in Friday’s win. Max Gerlach scored the game’s opening goal a little more than six minutes into the game.

The Blades doubled its lead when Haden started his magnificent weekend by scoring 7:35 into the second period.

Regina would get the game back to within one as Sergei Alkhimov scored an unassisted goal almost 12 minutes later before Haden iced the game by scoring an empty-net goal with a second left in the game for the 3-1 victory.

With Edmonton in Saskatoon on Saturday, it was Haden scoring just 3:46 into the game.

A pair of Edmonton goals would give the Oil Kings the lead heading into the first intermission before Haden and Gerlach would restore the Blades lead heading into the second intermission.

A goal by Oil Kings defender Connor McDonald at the end of the third period would set up Trey Fix-Wolansky for the game’s winning goal 30 seconds into the extra frame.

Saskatoon is off to Brandon on Tuesday before facing the Moose Jaw Warriors on Wednesday for a crucial game at Sasktel Centre. Moose Jaw remains four points behind the Blades in the east division standings but has three games in hand.