Just past the midway point of the second period on Wednesday, fans at SaskTel Centre rose to their feet when a goal by Hayden Harsanyi gave the Saskatoon Blades a jolt of much-needed energy.
Less than a minute after Zach Olsen scored the Blades’ first goal, Harsanyi’s goal pulled Saskatoon to within a single goal of the Calgary Hitmen, trailing 3-2.
Fast forward 11 seconds and Ben Kindel would crush those dreams of a Game 5 for the Blades, scoring a key insurance goal to help the Hitmen pick up a 6-2 victory over the Blades and advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
The Blades could not get that needed win on home ice, swept in the best-of-seven series by Calgary to see their off-season begin in early April.
After a scoreless first period, the Hitmen came flying with back-to-back goals from David Adaszynski and Kindel just 37 seconds apart before Ottawa Senators’ top prospect Carter Yakemchuk netted a highlight-reel goal to make it 3-0 for the visitors.
Saskatoon responded with goals from Olsen on a drop feed under the blocker of Calgary netminder Anders Miller before Harsanyi’s goal with 10 minutes to go in the second period.
Broken defensive coverage off the ensuing faceoff would lead Kindel to score his second of the night, giving Calgary a 4-2 lead, with Oliver Tulk adding an insurance marker in the third period before Kindel completed the hat trick on an empty Saskatoon net.
Wednesday’s game was the final junior contest for both Blades captain Ben Saunderson and defenceman Grayden Siepmann, graduating out of the WHL alongside forward Tanner Scott, who missed the first round series due to injury.
The Blades are expected to hold their final media availabilities on Thursday before the team begins the off-season and the push ahead to May’s WHL Prospects Draft.