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The Saskatoon Blades will live to see another day.
In another win-or-go home game, the Blades came away with a 6-3 victory on the Red Deer Rebels in Game 5 of their best-of-seven series in the WHL playoffs on Friday night at SaskTel Centre.
While there is little room for error for Saskatoon, it started out with a penalty from Blades captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere in the opening minute.
Luckily, Saskatoon came was able to kill it off without allowing a shot on net.
“Obviously me taking a penalty the first shift wasn’t planned, but I think our group responded pretty well after that. Got a big kill and then we started to play our game,” De La Gorgendiere said post game.
The Blades were able to use that as a bit of momentum to open the scoring.
Tanner Molendyk fired a wrist shot past Kyle Kelsey five minutes into the game to give Saskatoon a 1-0 lead.
This led to the beginning of a back-and-forth first period.
Red Deer responded shortly after as Kai Uchacz pounced on a puck that squeaked out from a scrum along the boards and was left alone in the slot to put away his seventh goal of the playoffs right between Ethan Chadwick’s five hole.
Saskatoon wouldn’t let that deter them as Egor Sidorov scored a power play goal from the boards past a screened Kelsey to restore the lead.
But Uchacz and the Rebels stormed right back.
An odd-man break led to a scramble in front of Chadwick which led to Uchacz putting away his second of the night and knotting it back at two apiece.
But Sidorov made sure he wasn’t upstaged as he scored his second power play goal of the period, this time a wrist shot from the faceoff circle giving the Blades a 3-2 lead after the first period.
The drama didn’t stop there though as Ollie Josephson opened the second period with his second of the playoffs 90 seconds into the middle frame making it a 3-3 game.
De La Gorgendiere made sure the Blades went into the third period with the lead though.
On another Saskatoon power play at the end of the second, the Blades captain’s first shot was blocked but was able to get his own rebound and score with 24 seconds left in the period.
O captain! My Captain! Aidan De La Gorgendiere scored his second of the playoffs to put Saskatoon ahead with just seconds left in the period.
4-3 Blades. #WHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/mmOepjbqnN
— steve seto (@steveseto) April 22, 2023
Rebels head coach Steve Konowalchuk said special teams was the difference make on Friday night.
“We wanna stay out of the box. I think probably that’s the biggest factor, I felt like we were chasing the game,” Konowalchuk said.
At that point the Blades said enough was enough and kept the Rebels off the scoresheet in the third.
Jayden Wiens and Molendyk each deflected in a goal in the final period to double the Blades lead and secure a Game 6 in Red Deer.
“I liked with some of the speed we played with, I like how it opened up a little bit, I like how our power play contributed, I liked our special teams. So, there were a lot of positives tonight,” Blades head coach Brennan Sonne said after the game.
He said they have to continue playing a simple game as Red Deer likes to play a physical game.
“Hockey’s not that complicated, it’s not like it’s a crazy chess game or something like that. If they are going to be in your face, get behind them and skate. That’s kind of how it works, so like I said pre-series, a very different team from Regina but I think we’re starting to figure it out a little bit,” Sonne added.
As the momentum slowly starts to shift in Saskatoon’s favour, Konowalchuk said his team needs to reset.
“It’s a different mindset. You try to talk about playing the same way and not looking at the big picture, but it is a different feel, a different internal pressure. I don’t know if that’s what’s gotten into our game at times,” the Rebels coach said.
Konowalchuk said the Blades could have played a bit more of a relaxed game.
“The other team gets to play with almost nothing to lose in that situation and they have to this point,” he said. Konowalchuk added the organization knew it wasn’t going to be an easy series coming in.
It can be difficult to play a more relaxed game when you face elimination, but Sonne says that’s exactly what they need to do.
“We thrive when we’re enjoying the moment, having fun together and a little bit loose. That’s when we’re at our best, I’m saying that because this is 80 games with this team and I’ve see it,” Sonne said.
“We just earned another day together and that’s what we’re focused on,” he added going into Game 6.
Saskatoon will have another chance to stay alive in the playoffs on Sunday night, but this time it will be on the road in Red Deer. Puck drop is at 2 p.m.