Blades Dumped 4-2 By Raiders
The Saskatoon Blades dropped the second half of their home and home with the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday night, falling 4-2 on Dalton Thrower Bobblehead Night.
The Blades kicked off the game on the right foot as Thrower actually scored the opening goal of the game at 7:02 of the 1st period. He grabbed the puck behind the Raiders goal and slid one home on the wraparound to make it 1-0. But, the Raiders responded in a big way. Anthony Bardaro answered at 9:13 to tie the game, then the Raiders took the game by the throat. Chance Braid scored to give the Raiders the lead, then Bardaro added two more goals just over 2 minutes apart to make it a 4-1 Prince Albert lead.
That was the score after 20 minutes as the shots were 12-6 in favor of the Blades.
The Blades were given some life early in the 2nd frame as Matej Stransky banged home a rebound at 1:56 to make it 4-2. After that, Luke Siemens was a wall for the Raiders as he stopped the other 12 shots against in the period. Patrick Johnson was tested 8 times in the period in the Blades goal and made all the saves he needed to.
The Blades entered the 3rd period still down by two and threw everything they could on goal. They outshot the Raiders 17-9 in the period, including a last 2-minute flurry with Johnson on the bench for the extra attacker. But, Luke Siemens shut the door and the Raiders walked away with the 4-2 win.
Bardaro took home the 1st star with his hat-trick, while Siemens took home 2nd star with 40 saves. On special teams, the Blades were 0 for 5 on the PP and 6 for 6 on the PK.
Saskatoon doesn’t have much time to think about the loss as they travel to Regina tomorrow for an early evening tilt with the Pats. Puck drop goes at 6:00PM from Regina, make sure you tune in to 92.9 The Bull to listen along or watch the game on WHL Live.
The Blades also have a big New Year’s Day tilt upcoming against the Medicine Hat Tigers. For that game, we have a great deal which includes tickets to the game, a meal for the family, a team store discount and a post-game skate for only $65. Check out more here.
Note: The Dalton Thrower jersey raffle went unclaimed at this game. Winning ticket was: #51150
