Minten’s dagger halts Warriors' late-game comeback, chance to advance for Blades

The WHL Eastern Conference Final between the Saskatoon Blades and Moose Jaw Warriors has been full of see-saw momentum shifts, heart-stopping moments, and overtime heroes. Game 5 had all of the above.

“It’s a crazy series, and this one tops them all so far,” said Blades coach Brennan Sonne. “I’m still breathing right now, but it’s pretty wild. Pretty crazy swings for sure.”

After opening the game with one of four unanswered Blades goals, Fraser Minten put the Moose Jaw Warriors on the brink of elimination with his overtime winner in the dying moments of the fourth frame, his second of the series.

“That’s hockey, it’s playoffs,” said Jagger Firkus, who had a goal and an assist in game 5. “It’s ups and downs, especially tonight it shows. Our backs are against the wall right now, so we have nowhere else to go but forward.”

Egor Sidorov, Charlie Wright, and Brandon Lisowsky would score before Warriors goalie Jackson Unger was pulled in favour of Dmitri Fortin late in the second period.

With the Blades up 4-0 on home ice, anyone who’s been watching the series knew the game was far from over.

Less than a minute into the third period, the Warriors were finally rewarded for their effort. Brayden Schuurman crashed the crease and the puck went off his leg and in.

Then on the power play, Matthew Savoie found Jagger Firkus at the top of the circle whose one-timer beat Evan Gardner over his shoulder, 4-2 Blades.

Brandon Lisowsky thought he had the next goal, a long breakaway pass that he tried to slip under Fortin’s pad. But after a lengthy phone call with the video review booth, there was no evidence the puck crossed the line.

The Warriors continued to “punch back” as Blades coach Brennan Sonne called it, and a harmless-looking pass from Denton Mateychuk bounced off the skate of Egor Sidorov in front, 4-3 Blades.

Sonne called a timeout, taking all 20 players off the bench and onto the ice. “Putting everyone on the ice is about full eye contact, body language, conversation,” he said. “Doing that, not just staring at the back of helmets, but looking in the eyes and actually having a conversation with the players at times can be really important in my opinion.”

Mateychuk wasn’t done though, he brought the puck back to the blueline and flung a shot toward the net, beating Gardner through a wall of traffic to tie the game at 4-4 with less than 7 minutes to go in regulation time.

Game five would give fans their fourth taste of overtime hockey in the series, and the Warriors were an inch away from completing the comeback late in the fourth period.

A long breakaway pass found Lynden Lakovic in alone on Gardner, but he spun and passed to a wide-open Atley Calvert. Somehow the puck bounced off the post, off a leg and out of harm’s way. Minutes later, Fraser Minten’s one-timer beat Fortin on the glove side to give the Blades a 3-2 series lead.

“We were just chasing our 11th win, that was our goal,” said Minten, who has two overtime game-winning goals this series. “Job done.”

Despite being one game away from elimination, the Warriors remain calm heading into game 6 in Moose Jaw on Sunday.

“Our effort from start to finish was excellent,” said Mark O’Leary, head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors. “Be excited. We’re coming home and we’re playing good hockey. We give an effort like that again, we’ll be fine.”