SASKATOON, Sask. – The Saskatoon Blades made a statement with their 5-2 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday.
The Blades executed their game plan to perfection, establishing a physical presence in the offensive zone and, in particular, the front of the net. With a boisterous home crowd cheering them on, the Blades put an exclamation mark on the win with an empty-net goal.
"Maybe teams started to take a little notice to us, but now they know we’re here," Blades forward Lukas Sutter said. "We beat the number one team in the country and that’s just the start of it."
It was a frustrating night for the Mooseheads, who were playing on back-to-back nights after defeating the Portland Winterhawks 7-4 on Saturday. Head coach Dominique Ducharme told media before the game that his team plays better on the second of consecutive nights, but that wasn’t the case on Sunday.
"I think they played with more energy than us and desperation," he said. "We started playing that way with 10 minutes left when it was 4-0. They felt maybe their back more to the wall and they reacted and you got to give them credit, they battled hard."
The Blades played the prototypical physical game expected of them. They were able to keep Halifax stars Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin in check for most of the night.
"They don’t really love to play physical hockey," Sutter said. "They’re a very talented team and when you take away their opportunities, they can’t do much and that’s something we really focused on."
Stephen MacAulay and Trey Lewis both felt the Blades forced them into playing their style of game, which hurt the Mooseheads’ chances. They also lacked the drive of a team with its back against a wall.
"They played with more desperation than we did," Lewis said. "I think maybe getting the win (on Saturday) it kind of put us in a comfort zone a little too much and we have to play every game like it’s a game seven."
Why the Blades won: The Blades were the hungrier team from the outset, which was evident in their willingness to fight for every inch of ice. Two of their goals came from inside Mooseheads goaltender Zachary Fucale’s crease, while the other two were from shots near the paint.
"That’s how you win games, dirty goals," Sutter said. "This is the time of year when you have to get to dirty areas to be successful and that’s what we did."
"We don’t have an overly-skilled group, but we’ve got a group that is willing to work in the tough areas and that probably was the difference," Blades head coach Lorne Molleken said. "That’s the way we’re going to score against these teams."
Even Ducharme acknowledged the Blades’ compete level in front of his team’s net was the difference.
"You look at the goals that were scored, three of them were battles in front of the net for loose pucks or rebounds," he said.
Why the Mooseheads lost: It was too little, too late by the time the Mooseheads found their game. Although MacAulay and MacKinnon scored within two minutes to cut the deficit to two, the Blades tightened up their defensive play and forced the Mooseheads to the outside.
"They did some things like trying to spread the neutral zone … to use their speed, kind of back us off so we had to move in to a little bit more of a tighter box through the neutral zone and try to trap that up," Blades defenceman Darren Dietz said.
Lewis stepped up in the neutral zone and laid out Blades forward Josh Nicholls with a hit that sent him to the box. The penalty came less than two minutes after MacKinnon’s goal made it 4-2 and killed the momentum they were gaining at the time.
"That’s been my game all year is to try to be physical and I was just trying to step up and I guess Nicholls didn’t get the puck in time," Lewis said. "That was my fault. That was a bad play by me."
Player of the Game: One of the question marks coming into this game was whether the Blades could get more production besides from their top line. Stransky came through with a big performance, scoring the first two goals of the game for his team. His first was a result of banging away at a loose puck in front while the second came on a breakaway.
His goals got his team off and running and they never looked back.
"Scoring has been a bit of an issue," Molleken admitted. "We finally gave (goalie) Andrey Makarov some support as far as goals. Stransky’s very capable. He’s an offensive player that is big, is strong, he can skate, and his first goal was just simply banging away at it. His second goal was outstanding. He went right upstairs on a real good goalie."
Unsung hero: Dietz played with his heart on his sleeve. The Montreal Canadiens’ prospect was sacrificing his body blocking shots, forcing pucks out when his team needed a clear out and even scored the insurance goal.
At one point during the second period, the Blades were killing a penalty when Sutter was hurt after blocking a shot and stayed down. Recognizing this, Dietz stepped up and blocked the next shot and battled to force the puck out and create a stoppage in play.
"It’s those little things that make the difference," Molleken said. "The biggest thing is he’s been one of our leaders all year. He’s a hard guy to play against and tonight he was at the top of his game. He did a tremendous job for us."
Game changer: Stransky’s second goal came off an interesting play. A teammate blocked a shot as his penalty expired, and the puck ricocheted towards the neutral zone. Stransky beat Luca Ciampini to the puck and broke in alone on Fucale to score his second of the game.
Quote of the day: Asked how his team defended against the dynamic duo of MacKinnon and Drouin, Dietz gave an excellent scouting report.
"They invite you. They want you to come at them. They play against guys every night that are trying to take their heads off. They’re good at that, so they want you to come to (them), then they spin off you. So we wanted to use the word ‘controlled aggression,’ come at them under pressure, but under control and ready for them to spin."
