Short-handed Blades beat league-leading Oil Kings on deadline day

A short-handed, new-look Saskatoon Blades team used the final minute of regulation to comeback and beat the league-leading Edmonton Oil Kings 2-1 Friday at SaskTel Centre.

Taking to the ice with just 11 forwards after the retirement of Kjell Kjemhus, and the departure of Matej Toman to Swift Current ahead of the WHL trade deadline, it was Chase Wouters deflecting a Scott Walford shot in front of the Oil Kings net to tie the game with 32 seconds left before Colton Dach converted in the fourth round of the shootout to secure the win.

Head coach Mitch Love appreciated the gutsy effort from his squad.

“We found ourselves on our heels at times, but when we did have those breakdowns, Koen MacInnes was there again for us tonight,” Love said. “We just kind of hung around.”

MacInnes, the Blades’ rookie goaltender filling in for injured Nolan Maier, stopped 34 of 35 shots he faced for his fifth win of the season.

“I knew coming into the game that it was going to be a challenge, but in my mind I just tried to keep it simple, make the easy saves and let the team do the rest, and I think that happened,” MacInnes said.

Not only did the rookie netminder stymie the potent Oil Kings offence all night, but he managed to use two poke checks in the shootout to earn the victory.

With Maier nursing a lower-body injury, MacInnes was beaming after a rare start.

“It’s really, really hard when to go through long stretches where you don’t get games. It’s hard mentally, and it’s even hard physically. But once you get back in the groove and you do get a couple opportunities, it just feels amazing,” MacInnes said.

Newcomers Evan Patrician and Rhett Rhinehart made their Blades debuts.

Love feels it will be a smooth transition for both players based on the one-game sample size.

“The new players did a good job tonight for us,” Love said. “It’s difficult, and you really try to find that balance of giving them a bit of a blueprint of what you want to get done out there so they look like they know what they’re doing, but at the same time you don’t want to over load them.”

Edmonton’s lone goal scorer was 16-year-old Dylan Guenther. Oil Kings goaltender Beck Warm made 22 saves in the loss, his first in an Oil Kings uniform since being traded from the Tri-City Americans.

The other two Blades acquired at the trade deadline, Caiden Daley and Martin Fasko-Rudas, are expected to arrive in time to play against the Prince George Cougars Saturday.