Blades head to Regina

The Saskatoon Blades are looking to keep their winning ways going as they hit the snow covered roads to Regina.

Saskatoon is coming off of a big weekend that saw them win 2 games over Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.

Regina meanwhile is coming off a winning weekend as they swept a home and home against the Swift Current Broncos. That included a 7-4 win on Sunday, where the Pats got 7 different goal scorers.

That trend will have to continue if the Pats want to win tonight.

Saskatoon has had a ton of success in Regina over the years. In fact, the Pats have not won at home against the Blades since November of 2007. The Blades have also picked up atleast one point in their last 10 trips to the provincial capital.

Here are my keys to the game:

For Regina

- Protect their home ice. They only have 2 wins in 8 games on home ice, and have surrendered more goals on home ice then any team in the Eastern Conference.

- Continue to score as a team. In the 7-4 win on Sunday, 7 different players scored. That makes it much easier to win games.

- Stay out of the box. The Pats home penalty kill is not too shabby @ 83%, but Saskatoon’s powerplay is picking up steam and is better on the road then it is at home.

For Saskatoon

- Stop Jordan Weal. I thought they did a solid job shutting him down the last time they played, even though he did score on October 2nd. But he is the guy that brings the offense for this team game in and game out.

- Go to the crease. Damian Ketlo is coming off two very good starts and Saskatoon will benefit from making it tough for him to see the puck.

- Don’t play down to the competition. Coming off two big wins it could be easy to try and take the Pats likely tonight. That can’t happen. The coaches and leaders on this team must have the guys ready to play as soon as that puck is dropped.

These two teams did meet once this year with Saskatoon winning 6-2.

You can catch this game on 92.9 The Bull, with the pre-game show starting at 6:30.