Oiring records four points in Prince Albert’s 6-3 win in Saskatoon
The Prince Albert Raiders started off 2025 with a win on Wednesday night, knocking off the Saskatoon Blades 6-3 as SaskTel Centre. Aiden Oiring had a monster night, scoring twice and adding two assists, while Max Hildebrand stopped 34 of 37 shots in the win.
The Raiders got off to a good start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead after the first period. Brayden Dube led a rush down the right wing and fired a hard shot on goal that handcuffed Evan Gardner in the Blades crease. Gardner was able to make the initial save, but the rebound spat into the slot, and Tomas Mrsic was able to direct the puck home off his foot. After having two assists on Monday night against Saskatoon, Mrsic followed that performance up with the game’s first goal on Wednesday to put the Raiders up 1-0.
Prince Albert got the only powerplay in the first period, and took full advantage, scoring to take a 2-0 lead. After Aiden Oiring won the offensive zone faceoff, he played catch at the blue line with Lukas Dragicevic. The two exchanged passes before Oiring gave the puck back to Dragicevic at the blue line. The defenceman blasted a one timer that hit traffic in front, but Brayden Dube was able to find the rebound and bury his 17th goal of the season past Gardner.
After 20 minutes, the Raiders took their two goal lead into the second period, with Saskatoon holding a slim 15-13 edge in shots.
The second period was a busy one, with five goals scored. The first three goals of the frame belonged to Prince Albert, as they opened up a 5-0 lead. At the 5:27 mark, Mrsic gave Oiring a pass from the right wall to the slot, and Oiring turned around to face the net, firing a shot that went in and out of the net in a heartbeat. With his first of two goals in the period, Oiring gave the Raiders a 3-0 lead.
Four and a half minutes later, Prince Albert extended their lead to 4-0, as Riley Boychuk welcomed himself to the Raiders/Blades rivalry. A great play by Niall Crocker to free up the puck behind the net led to the goal, as he picked it up on his backhand and showed great vision to find Boychuk open in the slot. The pass hit the rookie on the tape, and Boychuk was able to bury a one timer home for his fourth goal of the season to give the visitors a 4-0 lead.
Oiring scored his second goal of the period with 8:18 to go, as he showed off a great individual effort to find the back of the net. In the neutral zone, he cut back around a Blades forward to work his way into the Saskatoon zone. Skating down the right wall, he cut back into the slot and wired a shot past Gardner, scoring a beautiful goal for his 15th of the season. The lead became 5-0 for Prince Albert, and it chased Gardner out of the Blades net, as he gave up five goals on 22 shots. Ethan McCallum came in relief between the pipes.
After the goalie change, the Blades rattled off two goals in 30 seconds to make it a 5-2 contest. Cooper Williams and Ben Riche both found the back of the net for Saskatoon, scoring their eighth and 22nd goals of the season respectively.
Despite giving up those two back to back markers, the Raiders ended the second period with a 5-2 lead, and a narrow 27-26 lead in shots.
The Raiders did a great job of holding the Blades off the board in the third period, that was until there was 33 seconds left in regulation. With the net empty, Riche scored his second goal of the night from in tight on Hildebrand to make it a 5-3 game. That’s as close as Saskatoon would get, as Crocker buried an empty net goal from his own end of the ice to make it a 6-3 final.
Prince Albert will get Thursday off before returning to action on Friday night in Moose Jaw.
