Raiders come back to beat Blades 5-4
The Prince Albert Raiders recovered from a 3-1 deficit after the first period, coming back to beat the Saskatoon Blades 5-4 on Sunday night at SaskTel Centre.
There was no love lost between the two teams to start the game, as both captains dropped the gloves 37 seconds in. Justice Christensen and Tyler Parr exchanged blows in a spirited tilt at center ice, setting the tone for what was a physical first period.
Saskatoon would open the scoring with 6:23 left in the opening frame, as Hayden Harsanyi scored his eight goal of the season. His centering pass to the crease was deflected in by Raiders defenceman Benett Kelly, just trickling over the goal line to make it 1-0.
20 seconds later, the Blades got on the board again, as Kazden Mathies doubled their lead. After a chance from Rowan Calvert was stopped, Mathies was able to bury the rebound past a sprawled Dimitri Fortin. It was his ninth goal of the year making it a 2-0 game.
Less than 30 seconds later, the Raiders responded, as Daxon Rudolph scored in his fifth straight game to put the visitors on the board. From the blue line, Rudolph skated to the right circle and sniped a shot blocker side past Evan Gardner. It was his 13th goal of the season, making it a 2-1 game.
All three of those goals came in less than one minute.
With 2:36 left in the first, Riley Boychuk took a tripping penalty, and the Blades made him pay on the powerplay. Just five seconds in, and after an offensive zone faceoff win, defenceman Tristen Doyle beat Fortin with a bullet of a shot over Fortin’s glove. He picked up his fourth goal of the season, and gave Saskatoon a 3-1 lead after the opening 20 minutes.
Prince Albert stormed back in the second period, scoring three unanswered goals to take the lead. With a Raiders powerplay carrying over into the second period, Brayden Dube struck just 1:09 into the frame. He took a pass in the left circle from Rudolph and blasted a one timer blocker side past Gardner. It was Dube’s 11th goal of the season, and it made it a 3-2 game.
At the 9:25 mark of the second, Brock Cripps tied the game with his second goal of the season. Leading a rush across center ice, Cripps dropped a backhand pass to Connor Howe at the Blades blue line. Cripps drove hard to the net and got a return pass from Howe, and was able to redirect the puck home to make it a 3-3 game.
Not settling for a tie hockey game, the Raiders took their first lead of the game with 6:15 to go in the second, scoring one of the weirdest goals of the season. Christensen gloved the puck down at the Saskatoon blue line and tried to pass the puck to the far wall. Instead, the puck hit a Blades player in the high slot, deflecting all the way down to the net and in past Gardner. The pinball goal was awarded to Christensen, who picked up his sixth goal of the season.
It was a terrific response by the Raiders in that second period, and they took a 4-3 lead into the third period as a result.
Former Raider Tyrone Sobry got on the board in the third period, as he struck at the 2:20 mark. From the left point, his wrist shot beat traffic in front, and also beat Fortin glove side. It was his second goal of the season, tying the game at 4-4 early in the final frame.
Just over three and a half minutes later, the Raiders took hold of the lead once again, as Evan Smith scored the go ahead goal with 14:02 to go. Riley Boychuk skated down the right wing and threw a pass in front from the goal line, which hit some bodies in front. Eventually, Smith was able to find the puck and shovel a backhand shot home for his ninth goal of the season to make it 5-4.
Saskatoon would try to tie the game once again in the final minute on a powerplay with the net empty, but Fortin made a huge left pad save on Rowan Calvert in the crease. The Raiders got one last clear, and time ticked down, with Prince Albert coming out victorious by a 5-4 final.
Prince Albert ends their weekend with wins in all three games, and now get ready to travel to Regina to take on the Pats on Wednesday night.
