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A chance at extending their series lead over the Edmonton Oil Kings went up in smoke Wednesday night for the Saskatoon Blades.
The best-of-seven series between Saskatoon and Edmonton has now turned into a best-of-three, with the Oil Kings taking Game 4 at SaskTel Centre by a 5-2 final.
“We’re definitely going to carry the momentum,” said Oil Kings forward Lukas Sawchyn. “It’s kind of been a next man up mentality this series, so we’re excited and we’re going to embrace it.”
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Edmonton never trailed against Saskatoon on Wednesday night, picking up the win to tie their opening round playoff series at 2-2.
The Oil Kings’ line of Sawchyn, Kayden Stroeder and Miroslav Holinka was dominant in Game 4, combining on four of the team’s five goals including a hat-trick registered by Holinka.
“His game tonight was outstanding,” said Oil Kings head coach Jason Smith.
“It was a 200-foot game, he played well in both ends. He was out on the penalty kill and did a real good job, that’s what you need from your good players is good effort.”
Blades head coach Dan DaSilva said the team had trouble defending Edmonton’s top line, especially as the game carried on Wednesday.
“I thought tonight we made it too easy on them,” DaSilva said.
“We kind of let them off the hook a little bit, we’ve been doing a really good job on those guys. They’re high end players, they’re going to have their nights and they’re going to get their looks.”
Prior to puck drop, the Blades were dealt a tough blow with forward Zach Olsen being a late scratch after taking warm ups.
According to DaSilva, the hole in their lineup with Olsen’s departure was noticeable with the 18-year-old often leading the charge physically.
“He’s been a very important player for our group,” DaSilva said.
“Energy-wise, compete-wise he’s a driver physically. I think we just really missed his presence. I’m sure it was a sigh of relief for some of their defencemen too, not having Zach in the lineup for us. Hopefully, he’ll be good to go for Game 5.”
Coming off a thrilling 4-3 comeback win on Tuesday night in a Game 3 win over the Oil Kings, Saskatoon often was first to pucks and maintained a physical presence throughout.
In comparison to their performance on Wednesday in Game 4, DaSilva believes that dogged nature was missing against Edmonton.
“I think that we lacked a little bit of bite in our game,” DaSilva said. “It was not the game that you’ve seen from our group through three games of this series.”
For the first time in the series, Edmonton opened the scoring with Holinka ripping a quick wrist shot past Blades goaltender Evan Gardner 7:34 into the game.
Saskatoon managed to tie the score at 1-1 with less than six minutes to go before the intermission, as Kazden Mathies finished off a passing play from linemates Elias Pul and Tyler Parr for his first goal of the playoffs.
“We’ve been creating chemistry and we know where each other are,” Mathies said.
“With (DaSilva) trusting us, we trust him too. Putting us in all the (defensive) zone shifts, he trusts us that we’ll get the puck out and be defensively responsible.”
A puck over glass penalty late in the first period put Edmonton on the power play, which allowed Holinka to juke his way through the Saskatoon defence and pot his second goal of the night with 1:16 left in the frame for the 2-1 lead.
Edmonton made it a 3-1 game 4:29 into the second period as Sawchyn, who finished the game with three points, let a wrist shot fly off a drop feed from Lanigan, Sask. product Stroeder.
The Blades kept themselves in the game with a Hunter Laing tap-in goal off a cross-ice pass from Tristen Doyle with 4:27 left in the second period, but Edmonton beat the buzzer as Holinka completed his hat-trick off a broken play from Saskatoon.
St. Louis Blues prospect Adam Jecho added an empty net goal for Edmonton in the game’s final seconds, preserving the 5-2 victory for the visitors.
“I think we bounced back with a good effort,” Smith said.
“We talked about being structured, being a little more disciplined with the puck and making smarter decisions. We moved the puck well, spent some time in the (offensive) zone and created some chances.”
The series will now head back to Alberta for a Game 5 on Friday night in Edmonton, which will require the Blades to play a more structured and competitive game according to Mathies.
“The first three games we were physical,” Mathies said. “40 hits-ish for each game and this game I thought we lacked a tiny bit of it. I think for next game, we can go back to it.”
Guaranteed to run at least six games, it’s a series which has the potential to now go the distance with the Blades and Oil Kings each two wins away from advancing to the second round.
DaSilva isn’t putting any extra pressure on his team however, for what will be a pivotal Game 5 for both clubs.
“It’s a best-of-three series and anything can happen,” DaSilva said. “We feel comfortable playing in Rogers Place and I would expect us to get back on our ‘A-game’ for Friday.”
The Blades and Oil Kings will clash on Friday night at 6 p.m. in Edmonton for Game 5 of the series.
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