Raiders fall 4-0 to Blades
The Prince Albert Raiders had their eight game win streak come to an end on Saturday night, as they fell 4-0 to the Saskatoon Blades at the Art Hauser Centre.
With 7:19 to go in the first period, the rivalry was reignited, as Jonah Siverton dropped the gloves with Hunter Laing right at center ice. The forwards each exchanged a couple of decent blows each, and exchanged more words in the penalty box as they sat for five minutes.
Saskatoon opened the scoring with 4:20 left in the first period, as David Lewandowski found the back of the net. Dustin Willhoft gave him a pass in the offensive zone, and the two forwards crossed up in the slot. That threw the Raiders defence for a loop, as Lewandowski sniped a shot from the right circle, beating Steele Bass on the blocker side. It was his 11th goal of the season to make it 1-0.
The visitors would add another goal in the first period, striking on the powerplay with 3:44 to go. After the Raiders couldn’t dig the puck free in front of the net, Rowan Calvert found Cooper Williams on the right side of the net. Williams was left all along, and he beat an outstretched Bass, who couldn’t slide across in time to make what would have been an incredible glove save. Williams picked up his 17th goal of the season, putting Saskatoon up 2-0 after 20 minutes.
The Blades scored the only goal of the second period, scoring 4:50 in to take a 3-0 lead. After a point shot from Luke Dumas was blocked on the way, the rebound found Lewandowski’s stick. He sent a slick pass in front to Dustin Willhoft who was left wide open, and he netted his third goal of the season.
With 40 minutes gone, the Raiders would need to find life in the third period to get back into it, as they trailed 3-0.
Prince Albert played their best period in the third, outshooting the Blades 14-5, but they couldn’t solve Evan Gardner. The Blades netminder stopped 29 shots, picking up a shutout. Hayden Harsanyi added an empty net goal with 3:16 left in regulation, as Saskatoon picked up a 4-0 win.
These two teams go at it again tomorrow afternoon in Saskatoon to wrap up a home and home series. Puck drops at 4pm.
