Blades take 2-1 series lead with overtime win in Prince Albert
The Prince Albert Raiders tied the game late in regulation, but the Saskatoon Blades closed things out in overtime, beating the green and gold by a 4-3 final on Tuesday night at the Art Hauser Centre. Easton Armstrong was the best player on the ice for Saskatoon, scoring a hat trick in the victory.
The Blades got off to a quick start, taking a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, and Armstrong scored both of their goals. 5:56 into the game, Armstrong had a partial breakaway and faked a backhand shot before burying a forehand shot home. It was his second goal of the playoffs, and it gave Saskatoon an early 1-0 lead.
Armstrong followed up his first goal with his second with 10:57 left in the opening frame. After Jacob Hoffrogge coughed the puck up near the goal line, it came to Armstrong at the bottom of the right circle. He fired a shot that beat Max Hildebrand five hold, giving the Blades a 2-0 lead with his second of the night.
Prince Albert was only able to put four shots on goal in the first period compared to Saskatoon’s 16, and they entered the second period trailing by a pair of goals.
The Raiders won the second period, outscoring the Blades 2-1, thanks to two goals coming around 10 minutes apart. Krzysztof Macias put Prince Albert on the board just 2:51 into the middle frame, scoring on a breakaway. Shielding the puck from a Blades defenceman, Macias cut from the right wing to the middle, beating Evan Gardner with a backhand chip shot over the pad and under the blocker. Macias collected his first playoff goal in the WHL, and it was a big one to cut the lead to 2-1.
With 8:28 left in the second, the Raiders tied things up on a powerplay. A pass from Sloan Stanick at the left circle got past two Saskatoon sticks and onto the tape of Ryder Ritchie in the right circle. Ritchie unloaded a shot, beating Gardner with a hard shot top shelf, right beside the netminder’s ear. Ritchie’s second goal of the playoffs made the Art Hauser Centre erupt, as he tied the game 2-2.
However, the Blades answered back with 2:47 left in the second, as captain Trevor Wong put the blue and gold back in front. From just above the goal line, Wong collected a loose puck and took a stride towards the crease. Wong then roofed a backhand shot over Hildebrand’s glove, depositing the puck into the top corner. His first of the playoffs was good enough to give Saskatoon a 3-2 lead heading into the third period, while the Blades also outshot the Raiders 26-12 after 40 minutes.
14:22 went by in the third period without a goal, but the goal that was scored tied the game at 3-3, as Aiden Oiring found the back of the net. After Ritchie carried the puck into the corner, he threw a pass towards the net, and Oiring was able to direct a shot in past Gardner, tying the game with his second goal of the postseason.
With both teams knotted up at 3-3, overtime would be needed to find a winner and a series leader.
Saskatoon started the overtime frame on a powerplay after Stanick was sent to the box for a tripping call late in regulation, and the Blades only needed 23 seconds to score the overtime winner on the man advantage. For the third time in the game, it was Armstrong who scored for Saskatoon, and his third of the night was his biggest, closing the game out for the Blades, as the visitors won by a 4-3 final, and took a 2-1 series lead as well.
Prince Albert will look to tie the series back up tomorrow night in game four. Puck drops at the Art Hauser Centre at 7pm.
