After being knocked out of the playoff series in round three last year, the Winnipeg Ice are aiming big as they now lead 3-0 against the Saskatoon Blades.

In an incredible 5-1 finish for the Winnipeg Ice against the Saskatoon Blades, the WHL hockey team is one victory away from progressing to the 2023 WHL Playoffs Finals.

Just under three minutes into the first period, Matthew Savoie opened the scoring on a power-play, with Zach Benson and Evan Friesen also scoring in the opening period.

"We're always trying to get off to as fast of a start as we can and get the momentum on our side and I thought we did a good job of that today, just playing defence first and capitalizing on our chances," says Matthew Savoie in a post-game interview. 

Another two power-play goals were achieved by Connor McClennon in the second and Owen Pederson in the third.

While Ben Zloty didn't score this game, he assisted three out of five of the Ice's goals in yesterday's games.

The Winnipeg Ice nearly doubled the number of shots on net as the Blades, with 34-18.

Justin Lies from Saskatoon scored the lone goal for the Blades in the second period.

"I thought we had an outstanding first period and we just rolled out to the win. Obviously, our power play's really clicking and I just thought we had a couple of really good shifts down low," says Ice coach James Patrick in a post-game interview. "Saskatoon is one of the best defensive teams in the league. When you get in their zone they're a hard team to create offence against, so I just thought today the difference was the power play."

The Ice and Blades will face off again tonight at the SaskTel Centre at 8 p.m. for Game Four.

On the other end, for the Western Conference Championship, the Seattle Thunderbirds lead against the Kamloops Blazers 2-1. Game Four will be held on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m. PDT at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, B.C.