Blades melt the Ice

It was a tough end to a tough road trip for the Kootenay Ice.

Saskatoon handled the Ice 4-2 at the Credit Union Centre.

Erik Benoit got the Ice on the board first in the game at 13:56 of the first period. After that, the Blades scored three straight to take control of the game as it was 3-1 in the 2nd.

Kootenay's top goal scorer Max Reinhart got his 17th of the year with just over 7 minutes left in the 2nd period to cut the Blades lead to one at 3-2.

But that was as close as the Ice would come.

Brent Benson would put it out of reach with a nice goal following an amazing save by Steven Stanford. A shot bounced up and over Stanford, but he was able to dive back and get his blocker on the puck and just get enough of it to knock it wide of the open cage. The puck came up the Ice and Benson buried his 6th of the year at 14:47 of the third.

The other Blade scorers were Stefan Elliott, Marek Viedensky and Alex Elliott. Alex Elliott's goal was his first WHL goal.

Stanford ended up with 25 saves in a winning cause. Nathan Lieuwen was once again the story for the Ice. The 6'5 monster had 41 saves in defeat.

The Blades were 0 for 2 on the powerplay. Saskatoon's PK was the bigger story, holding the Ice to one goal on seven chances. That included 2 big kills in the third period when the game was 3-2 and 4-2 respectively.

Next up for the Blades, a Tuesday night tilt in Moose Jaw against the Warriors.