Trojans take game one from Blackhawks

The Blackhawks kept momentum in the second with Nolan Doell scoring on a rebound to give them a 2-0 lead.

Both the Beardys Blackhawks (black) and Tisdale Trojans (white) are in shock as Nolan Doell (black, centre) scores a sudden rebound goal to put Beardys up 2-0 (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

Down by two and being outshot in the second period 8-1, the Trojans desperately needed a spark.

They got that spark with one second left on their power play. Jayden Wiens fed the puck cross ice to Liam Rutten and the Trojans were back in game one.

Darrell Mann, Trojans head coach, acknowledged how important the goal was.

“All of a sudden you could just see the breath come out of our team and we’re ready to roll,” Mann told northeastNOW. “I thought from then on, especially the rest of the second period, we really took it to them.”

Four minutes later, Wiens set up another goal as Colby Vranai put home a rebound on a delayed penalty to tie the game 2-2 going into the third period.

The Trojans outshot the Blackhawks 13-3 in the second period following the Rutten goal. Wiens credited the entire team’s vibe for keeping them in the game, even while trailing 2-0.

“We all stayed positive,” Wiens said. “That’s what helped us come back because no one got negative on the bench. Everyone was positive, kept going at it, and never gave up.”

Less than two minutes into the third, the Trojans leading scorer for 2018-19 Cade Hayes walked into the zone and released as quick of a wrist shot as he’s fired all season to give his team its first lead.

Four minutes later, Wiens struck again. He kept a puck in at the Blackhawks blueline, skated down the middle and shot before line-mate MacKenzie Carson got two cracks at the rebound to put the Trojans ahead 4-2.

Trojans forward MacKenzie Carson (centre) celebrates after his goal put his team up 4-2 (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

“I just wanted to shoot today,” Wiens laughed. “In practice all we’ve been doing is just shooting far pad with someone going to the net and I think that’s what I was trying to do today. If you shoot on net something good is eventually going to happen.”

Wiens finished the game with three primary assists.

However, the game was far from over.

Blackhawks Griffin Ryden’s shot slowly went across the goal line to cut his team’s deficit to 4-3 with nearly 13 minutes to play.

Fast forward to 1:30 left in the third period with the Blackhawks pulling goaltender Tyler Peterson for the extra attacker, who does Mann send out for a crucial defensive zone faceoff? Jayden Wiens.

The Trojans bent in the dying seconds but never broke as they hung on to win game one 4-3.

Trojans defenceman Zac Robins (white, second left) ties the stick of a Blackhawks player after an initial save by goaltender Tanner Martin (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

“I was very thankful,” he Wiens. “They were giving it to us a little bit at the end with a few shots on net and I was just looking at the time waiting for it to go down. It ended and it’s just a big relief.”

Mann called Wiens’ game one of the biggest individual efforts shown by a Trojan all year.

“He carried us early,” he said. “We knew Jay was a big-game player coming into this season and he really proved it. I really like that chemistry that him, Vranai, and Carson have going right now.”

The Trojans lead the best-of-five series against the Blackhawks 1-0, although Mann already has some adjustments in mind for game two, especially late in the game.

“We were running around a little bit,” he said. “We had an opportunity in the empty net a couple of times and we probably should have kept the puck low to kill the period. We tried to wrap it around, didn’t get it in, and they walked it down and got two more really good chances on our net. That’s something we’ll talk about.”

Game two of the Trojans and Blackhawks best-of-five SMAAAHL quarter finals series takes place Sunday at Willow Cree Memorial Sport Centre in Duck Lake at 4 p.m.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow

by Aaron Schulze

Trojans take game one from Blackhawks

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