By TERRY PUGH
The Warman U18AAA Wildcats downed the visiting Saskatoon Blazers 4-1 in a penalty-filled match on Saturday, October 4.
With the win, the Wildcats retained their hold on second place in the Saskatchewan Male U18AAA Hockey League (SMU18AAAHL) , one point behind the league-leading Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors.
But, it’s awful crowded at the top of the league standings at the moment, with five teams all boasting three wins so far this season.
The Warriors are in first place with seven points by virtue of having one overtime loss (a 5-4 decision on October 5 to the Regina Pat Canadians).
The Wildcats have six points, having lost one game during regulation time.
The third-place Yorkton Maulers (3-2-0), fourth-place Tisdale Trojans (3-1-0) and fifth-place Regina Pat Canadians (3-0-0) all have six points and are hard on the heels of the Wildcats and Warriors. The sixth-place Battleford Stars (2-2-1) with five points aren’t far behind.
With all the teams evenly-matched, all the little details of the game, like on-ice discipline, suddenly become very important.
The Wildcats took advantage of a series of bad penalties by the Blazers to score three power-play goals in the October 4 game in Warman. They were helped in a big way by goaltender Seth Guthenberg’s outstanding saves at key moments as well.
Warman drew first blood 13 minutes into the first period when team captain Sam Failler picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skirted around the back of the Blazers’ net and released a quick wrist shot past goalie Reid Wasserman glove side.
Failler added an assist four minutes later, feeding the puck to teammate Cash Arcand-Vandale on a power play opportunity to give Warman a 2-0 lead. Arcand-Vandale added another power play goal late in the second period, with an assist going to Declan Borthwick.
Warman’s Dade Wotherspoon made it 4-0 for the home team early in the third frame on yet another Wildcats power play. Wotherspoon’s tip-in deflected a shot from the lowslot by teammate Easton Bauer.
The Blazers finally broke Gutenberg’s shutout bid when Tatum Fouquette scored with 37 seconds left in regulation.
The Wildcats play host to the Tisdale Trojans on Thanksgiving Monday, October 13 at 2 p.m. at the Warman Home Centre Communiplex.