Blades limit Rebels’ shots in victory over Red Deer

On a night when shots were hard to come by, the Saskatoon Blades kept the momentum going after clinching a playoff berth this past weekend by defeating the Red Deer Rebels 5-2 on Wednesday night at SaskTel Centre.

Also for the third game in a row, the Blades built a three-goal lead and the offence has been firing on all cylinders.

Saskatoon took advantage of Red Deer’s inability to stay out of the penalty box by going 3-for-9 on the night on the power play, compared to just two power-play opportunities for the Rebels.

It also helped that Blades held Red Deer without a shot in the first period.

Egor Sidorov kept his impressive streak going by scoring the opener with the man advantage and gave the Blades a 2-0 lead early into the second period. He finished his night with two goals and an assist.

Jayden Wiens potted his 14th goal of the season on the power play to give Saskatoon a comfortable three-goal cushion.

Craig Armstrong got the Rebels on the board late in the second period, but Brandon Lisowsky restored the three-goal advantage 20 seconds later to make it 4-1 Blades. That goal was Lisowsky’s 30th of the season.

Lisowsky’s night wasn’t done there, as he scored his second of the game early in the third period with the man advantage to give the Blades a 5-1 edge.

Frantisek Formanek scored for the Rebels just before the halfway mark of the third to close out the scoring.

It was a light night for Blades goalie Ethan Chadwick, who only had to make eight saves on the night for the victory.

Lisowsky was named first star of the night followed by Tanner Molendyk and Aidan De La Gorgendiere for Saskatoon.

Saskatoon will next host the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night and the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday.