Blades comeback falls short in 4-3 loss to Lethbridge

The final of six games in nine nights for the Saskatoon Blades was one that slipped away.

The team wasn’t able to recover from a messy second period, dropping a tough 4-3 matchup against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

After Kyle Crnkovic opened up the scoring just over five minutes into the first period, Lethbridge answered back with a late period goal by Brett Davis.

That was the beginning of a tough slide by the Blades, with the Hurricanes taking full advantage.

Lethbridge opened the second frame by putting a quick one past Blades goaltender Nolan Maier, playing his second game since returning from injury. Logan Barlage’s marker was followed by Davis’ second of the game before Koletrane Wilson scored the eventual game-winner.

There was some fight in the Blades game. Crnkovic scored his second of the game, and fourteenth of the season, late in the second frame. That cut Lethbridge’s lead to just two.

The third period also began in Saskatoon’s favour, with Colton Dach potting his eighth of the season. That goal, along with a strong push wasn’t enough for the Blades, who fell to 25-20-2-2 on the season.

It was a missed opportunity to make up some ground in the playoff push for the club, as they continue to sit in the second wild-card spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

Blades Head Coach Mitch Love said he liked the way the team responded after the first 40 minutes of action.

“We talked about it after the second period. We came back the other night against Victoria, there’s some resiliency in that dressing room. Our guys, there’s no quit in our team.”

During the past six games in nine nights, the Blades came out with a 2-2-2 record. Their wins came Friday, a 3-0 shutout in Moose Jaw, and the first game of the tough stretch, Jan. 24 against Medicine Hat. That game ended in a 6-5 win for the club.

Love said the team has grown over the past nine days, and the final of Saturday’s game didn’t do the team justice on the ice.

“(We played) against some quality opponents. I’m happy with some of the signs of our game. We’re starting to play some better team hockey, that’s a really quality hockey team over there, and I thought we (outplayed Lethbridge) for the most part.”

An integral part of the Blades game was missing for the majority of that six-game stretch. Starting goaltender Nolan Maier was out for the past nine games nursing a lower-body injury.

Maier made his return Friday, posting a shutout in Moose Jaw after being out of action since Jan. 5. It was his first shutout of the 2019-20 season, and seventh in his career.

Maier said even though the game didn’t end in the way he had hoped, it was nice to get his first start at home since Jan. 1, a 6-1 loss to the Winnipeg ICE.

“It’s a little different coming back,” he said. “I think we battled until the end, and we didn’t give up. That’s a positive we can take from that.”

The Blades will now have three nights off before they battle Regina Wednesday at SaskTel Centre. This will be the teams second meeting of the year.

The two provincial rivals locked horns Jan. 26, with the Pats coming out with a 4-3 win at the Brandt Centre. Love said it isn’t going to be hard to get the team ready for that matchup.

“We lost tonight, and we lost to Regina last Sunday. So, our guys will be ready to play.”