Raiders come back to beat Blades 5-4 in a shootout
After trailing 4-2 in the second period, the Raiders erased their deficit, coming back to defeat the Saskatoon Blades 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
The Raiders scored once early in the first, and once late in the first, jumping ahead to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Ben Harvey struck at the 3:47 mark of the game, finishing off a scoring chance started by Justice Christensen. After a shot from the Raider captain was kicked aside by Evan Gardner, Alisher Sarkenov grabbed the rebound and fired a backhand shot on goal. Harvey was parked in front of the net, and was able to deflect the puck past Gardner’s blocker, scoring his sixth goal of the season to open the scoring.
In the final 30 seconds of the frame, Brandon Gorzynski scored to double the lead. There was a delayed penalty on Saskatoon after a high high on Daxon Rudolph behind the Raiders net, but that didn’t matter. Aiden Oiring collected the puck from his own end and skated across Saskatoon’s blue line, dropping a pass for Gorzynski. The 18-year-old winger fired a shot that deflected off a Blade in front, fooling Gardner as he was beat blocker side once again. Gorzynski was credited with his 25th goal of the season, putting him one back of Aiden Oiring for the team lead.
With one period in the books, Prince Albert took their two goal lead into the second, also leading 9-6 in shots.
Saskatoon rattled off four straight goals to start the second period to take a 4-2 lead. Hunter Laing, David Lewandowski, Ben Bowtell, and Tyler Parr all scored less than five minutes apart, shifting the momentum of the game as the Blades went up by a pair.
Less than a minute after Parr made it 4-2, Riley Boychuk responded for Prince Albert to make it a one goal game. Brandon Gorzynski brought the puck into the offensive zone and took a shot along the ice that Boychuk was able to deflect towards the goal. The puck glanced off the post and went in, as Boychuk picked up his 12th goal of the season.
With one period to go, the Raiders would need to find a comeback, as they trailed 4-3 after 40 minutes.
That comeback would be made 5:22 into the third period, as Jonah Sivertson tied the game. After his original shot was stopped, he followed up on his own rebound, outwaited Gardner, and slid a shot five hole. A fired up Sivertson picked up his 19th goal of the season, as he made it a 4-4 game.
With the game still tied after the final buzzer, the Raiders and Blades would need overtime to decide a winner.
David Lewandowski took an interference penalty in the extra frame, which set Prince Albert up on a four on three powerplay with a chance to win the game. Despite throwing seven shots on goal in overtime, the Raiders couldn’t find the game winning goal, as the contest would move on to a shootout.
Oiring began the shootout with a goal, beating Gardner to put the Raiders up after the first shooter. Hayden Harsanyi was tasked with responding for Saskatoon, but Orsulak denied him, opening the door for Prince Albert to take a stranglehold.
Braeden Cootes was sent out second, and he also scored for the Raiders, putting the Blades up against the wall. With the game on the line, Orsulak shut the door on Tyler Parr, as the Raiders won by a 5-4 final.
Prince Albert has Sunday off before welcoming the Moose Jaw Warriors to town for a Family Day matinee. Puck drops at the Art Hauser Centre at 2pm.
