Mintos defenceman Alex Ozar blocks a shot from Blazers forward Max Gudnason. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Mintos Playoff Hockey

Mintos ‘shoot themselves in the foot’, Blazers force Game 5

Mar 9, 2019 | 10:04 PM

The Prince Albert Mintos had a chance to punch their tickets to the second round of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs, but they couldn’t find their hole-punch.

With their backs against the wall, the Saskatoon Blazers shutout the Mintos 3-0 to force a Game 5 rubber match to decide the series, at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Rod Hamm Memorial Arena.

Matthew Pesenti made 21 saves for the shutout for the Blazers. Although he made some timely saves to keep the clean sheet, he spent most of the game watching his team work in the Mintos’ end.

The Mintos spent 16 minutes of the game on the penalty kill, and when they weren’t doing that, they were still defending in their own end. The Mintos were shorthanded nine times, including three times in the first period.

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“We didn’t play very well, for whatever reason. I think the penalties in the first period, there were some guys that probably played eight minutes—straight killing those penalties with other guys sitting,” said Mintos assistant coach Bryan Swystun, who’s filling in for the suspended head coach Ken Morrison. “To be successful against that team, we’ve got to be able to roll three-plus lines. We just weren’t able to do that. We shot ourselves in the foot.”

Mintos goaltender Spencer Welke was one of the only bright spots for the Mintos on Saturday, according to Swystun. While his team was outshot 46-21, Welke did his part to keep his team in the game by making 43 saves. That’s the second day in a row Welke’s come up big in the save department, after he stopped 49 out of 50 shots in Friday’s 6-1 victory over the Blazers.

But even with how well Welke has played, the Mintos’ goaltending decision for Sunday’s Game 5 will be a difficult one. Welke has faced 96 pucks in the past 48 hours and would play his third game in as many nights if he gets the nod. Carter Woodside won Game 2 for the Mintos, but his numbers in the series are well below Welke’s (0.869 versus 0.958 save percentage, 5.55 versus 2.00 goals against average).

“We haven’t made that decision,” Swystun said. “We’ll think about it tonight.”

Josh Nagy, James Form and Alec Saretzky had the goals for the Blazers.

Scoring Summary

First Period

No scoring.

Second Period

1-0, Blazers, Josh Nagy from Jordan Edwards

2-0, Blazers, Alec Saretsky from Nolan Allan

Third Period

3-0, Blazers, James Form from Max Gudnason

All eyes on this series

This is the only first round series of the SMAAAHL playoffs this year that is still in progress, and that hasn’t finished by a three-game sweep.

The top seeded Regina Pat Canadians beat the Saskatoon Contacts in three straight games, as did the 2^nd place Tisdale Trojans over the Beardy’s Blackhawks, and the fourth place Notre Dame Hounds over the Swift Current Legionnaires.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW