Brandon Lisowsky’s first goal of the season came at an opportune time for the Saskatoon Blades on Tuesday night against the Regina Pats.
Lisowsky scored on a two-on-one rush to complete a 4-3 comeback win in overtime, just minutes after a Tyler Parr tying goal to beat the buzzer with 33 seconds left in regulation.
“It’s obviously nice to get that first one out of the way and hopefully they keep going in,” said Lisowsky.
Trailing 3-2 late in the third period, Saskatoon pulled Logan Cunningham with Parr batting a puck out of the air and past Regina netminder Kelton Pyne.
“It shows how much we’re willing to work and we’re not going to go away ever,” said Blades forward Ben Riche. “No matter if we’re up 6-2, down 6-2 or in a tight 3-2 game, we’re just not going away.”
Despite all signs pointing towards a year of growth following the departure of stars like Trevor Wong, Egor Sidorov, Fraser Minten and Charlie Wright, the Blades have fired out of the starting blocks with a 7-1-1 record over their first nine games.
It equals one of the best starts in franchise history, vaulting Saskatoon into the top spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.
“It’s a great start to the season, absolutely,” said Blades head coach Dan DaSilva. “But it’s just a start and it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish. We’re very, very happy with our record right now but let’s make no mistake, there’s still lots of work to do here.”
Along with the return of Lisowsky, Evan Gardner and Tanner Molendyk from NHL camps, the Blades have also added import forward David Lewandowski to their roster.
Lewandowski began the season playing in Germany’s top professional men’s league and is projected as one of the top Germans eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft.
“I already played on the small ice in some tournaments,” said Lewandowski. “Also in Germany some clubs have small ice, it was not that hard to change but I like the small ice more.”
Not even a month into the season, the Blades still face a long road towards replicating last year’s Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as regular season champions.
According to Lisowsky and the rest of the Blades locker room, however, they’re determined to prove pre-season prognostications wrong.
“Obviously, people don’t really think that we’re still a good team,” said Lisowsky. “Like I keep saying, in the room we still think we’re the best team in the league.
“I think that’s why our record shows that.”
The Blades will aim to move to 8-1-1 on Thursday night, as they begin a short two-game Alberta road trip against the Edmonton Oil Kings.