Raiders lose frustrating 4-1 game in Saskatoon
The Prince Albert Raiders poured on 41 shots, but only had one goal to show for it, as they fell by a 4-1 final to the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday night at SaskTel Centre.
Prince Albert held an early 5-0 edge in shots on goal through the first five minutes of the game, but the Blades were able to shift the momentum for the rest of the period. Saskatoon was able to take advantage of their first powerplay of the game, as Cooper Williams set up Hunter Laing. Skating along the left circle, Williams threw a hard pass into the slot, and Laing was able to make a great play to open his stick blade and redirect a shot home top corner over Max Hildebrand’s glove. Laing’s third goal of the weekend against the Raiders was his 22nd goal of the season to take a 1-0 lead.
Through 20 minutes, the Blades held a 12-7 lead in shots, and a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard.
The second period saw the Raiders on three straight penalty kills, as at one point Saskatoon had five powerplays compared to zero for Prince Albert. The blue and gold were able to score on their third powerplay of the second period, as Williams found the back of the net. After trying to find a teammate in front of the net, Williams’ pass hit a Raider and found its way in the back of the net. Williams picked up his 17th goal of the season to make it a 2-0 game.
The Raiders finally got a penalty call to go their way with 5:30 to go in the second period, but were unable to beat Ethan McCallum. After two periods, they would have to find a way to get back into the game down 2-0, and they started the final frame with 1:51 of powerplay time which they were also unable to capitalize on.
Laing found his second goal of the game with 6:58 left in the third period, as he took a pass from Frantisek Dej in the offensive zone and buried a shot glove side past Hildebrand. That gave the Blades a 3-0 lead, and a shorthanded empty net goal from Tyler Parr made it a 4-0 game with 1:10 left in regulation.
The Raiders spoiled the shutout bid of McCallum’s with 15.8 seconds left in the game, as Oli Chenier buried a one timer after getting a pass from Linden Burrett. His third goal of the season made it a 4-1 final.
Prince Albert now heads out on a tough Alberta road trip this week starting on Wednesday night in Lethbridge.
