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Playoff hockey will be returning to SaskTel Centre in March.
The Saskatoon Blades clinched a playoff spot for a seventh consecutive season on Wednesday night with a 5-3 victory over the expansion Penticton Vees, securing one of eight playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
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“Anything can happen in the playoffs,” Laing said. “It’s the first goal, but we got lots of games left and we’re trying to get higher in the standings.”
The Blades entered the night needing either a win over Penticton or a Moose Jaw Warriors loss in Lethbridge to guarantee their place in the WHL post season.
“It always feels better when you can clinch a playoff berth with a victory,” Blades head coach Dan DaSilva said.
“Especially at home and especially in the style of fashion we did tonight, too. A close game. That’s a tough team we played over there.”
Exchanging chances in the opening 20 minutes, the Blades struck on the power play with a Jack Kachkowski shot with 4:36 left before the buzzer.
A few minutes later, Saskatoon doubled the lead to 2-0 with Cooper Williams re-directing a Laing rebound for his 20th goal of the season. After a short video review by the officials, the goal stood to put the Blades up at the intermission by a pair.
The Blades continued to pour on the offence midway through the second period, as captain Tyler Parr deflected a shot courtesy of Kazden Mathies past former Saskatoon goaltender Ethan McCallum for the 3-0 lead.
Penticton got on the board shortly after with Vees forward Matteo Danis showcasing some good hand-eye coordination to bat the puck into the Saskatoon net off a Brady Birnie shot.
With just over four minutes left in the second period, the Vees continued to chip away at Saskatoon’s lead after a poor zone clearance by the Blades. Penticton defender Ethan Weber picked off the puck and fired a shot at the Saskatoon net, which was tipped home by Samuel Drancak to cut the deficit to 3-2.
It remained a one-goal game for much of the third, with Penticton piling shots on Blades goaltender Evan Gardner, who shut the door until a puck-over-glass penalty taken by the Vees with 2:19 remaining.
Laing only needed 15 seconds of power-play time for the game’s insurance marker to make it 4-2, before Elias Pul added an empty net goal.
“It’s so exciting, and I think we got a great team in there,” Parr said.
“Up and down the lineup there’s a lot of really good players, and if we play simple, hard hockey, I think a lot of teams are going to have trouble with us.”
The win has pulled the Blades to within three points of the Brandon Wheat Kings for fifth place in the Eastern Conference, with Saskatoon now holding a 30-23-4-2 record and 66 points.
“We’re still trying to catch that fifth spot and do whatever we can to get higher in the standings,” Laing said.
“We got big games ahead, and we’re going to be ready for game one when it comes.”
Riding a three-game win streak with nine games left in the regular season, the Blades will try to continue climbing up the standings on Friday night when they host the Prince George Cougars at 7 p.m.
