Raiders take home opener 4-2 over Blades
After falling behind to start the game, the Prince Albert Raiders came back to beat the Saskatoon Blades 4-2 on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre. Four different Raiders found the back of the net in the home opener victory, while Michal Orsulak stopped 29 of 31 shots in his WHL debut between the pipes.
The Blades scored the only goal of the first period, striking at the 10:59 mark on the powerplay. Offseason acquisition Dominik Petr scored the goal, taking a pass in the right circle from Brayden Klimpke. Petr ripped a one timer far side past Orsulak to make it a 1-0 contest.
With 20 minutes in the books, Prince Albert outshot Saskatoon 9-8, but trailed 1-0 heading into period two.
8:40 into the middle frame, Aiden Oiring tied things up for the Raiders. After some offensive zone pressure, Owen Corkish played the puck behind the net to Brayden Dube. Bobbling it for a second, Dube gained possession and sent a pass back up to the slot. Oiring received it and one timed a shot past Ethan McCallum. It was the first goal of the season for Prince Albert, starting the game from scratch with a 1-1 tie.
Just over six minutes later, Daxon Rudolph gave the Raiders their first lead of the night, scoring in his second straight home opener. On the powerplay, Riley Boychuk gave Rudolph a pass from the left circle to the point. Rudolph’s shot from the blue line was deflected on the way through, as McCallum was fooled on the blocker side.
After two periods, Prince Albert held a 2-1 lead thanks to Oiring and Rudolph’s tallies.
With 2:26 gone in the third period, a great play amongst a trio of 2008-born forwards connected to put the Raiders up by a pair. Boychuk made a great play to send the puck between his legs to the slot for Jonah Sivertson. Sivertson then found Ty Meunier wide open on the left side of the crease, giving Meunier a tap in goal for his first of the season to make it 3-1.
Near the midway mark of the third, Zach Olsen scored for the Blades to make it a one goal game once again. Walking into the offensive zone, Olsen fired a shot that deflected off Orsulak’s glove and in, making it a 3-2 game.
Later in the frame, with Saskatoon’s net empty, Oli Chenier collected the puck after a defensive zone draw win, and shot the puck into the yawning cage. Chenier’s goal came with 1:28 left in regulation, and sealed a 4-2 Raiders win.
Prince Albert will look to make it a perfect weekend tomorrow night when they visit the Blades for the rematch at SaskTel Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.
