Raiders tie the game late and beat the Blades 5-4 in a shootout
After trailing 3-1 in the third and 4-3 late in the game, the Prince Albert Raiders came back to beat the Saskatoon Blades 5-4 in a shootout on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre. Jonah Sivertson, Ryan Gower, and Aiden Oiring all scored in the third period, with Oiring’s goal coming in the final minute to send it to overtime. Both he and Riley Boychuk would score for the green and gold in the shootout to complete the comeback.
Saskatoon took a 1-0 lead 5:38 into the game thanks to Rowan Calvert. Prince Albert won a faceoff in the offensive zone, but the puck bounced over a Raider stick at the blue line, and the Blades were able to turn the play the other way. In the Raider zone, Calvert button hooked along the half wall, walked along the blue line and fired a shot on goal. With traffic in front of him, Cooper Anderson couldn’t see the puck go by him on the blocker side, as it found the back of the net. Calvert’s first goal of the preseason gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Daxon Rudolph tied the game for the Raiders with 6:17 left in the first, scoring his first goal of the preseason. After a shot from the 16-year-old was stopped by Austin Elliott, the puck bounced in front and hit Jonah Sivertson. It would then find Rudolph’s stick again, and this time the defenceman was able to toe drag and fire a shot home glove side past Elliott.
After 20 minutes, both teams would find themselves in a 1-1 deadlock.
Eric Kahl came in halfway through the second period to take over the Raider crease, and was tested with 2:20 left in the frame. After the Blades won a puck battle along the left wall, Ben Riche fed a pass to Colten Worthington in the slot. Worthington was alone on a partial breakaway and tried a backhand shot, but Kahl slid across and stayed with him to make a fantastic glove save, keeping the game tied.
However, the Blades would find the back of the net with 0.3 seconds left on the clock, as Riche was able to give Saskatoon their second lead of the night. During a scramble play in the low slot, Riche ripped a low shot on goal that Kahl couldn’t react to, as it beat him five hole. Riche’s first goal of the preseason gave Saskatoon a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
The final regulation frame of the game was the most entertaining one of the entire preseason, with end to end action lasting all 20 minutes. William James scored 1:50 into the third to give the Blades a 3-1 lead to start it all.
Jonah Sivertson and Ryan Gower scored for the Raiders just over ten minutes apart to tie the game at 3-3.
Sivertson’s goal came on the heels of a beautiful passing play between himself and Cole Peardon. Sivertson sent a pass to Peardon in the middle of the ice, who returned the favour by feeding his linemate near the right post. Taking the pass, Sivertson redirected the puck home for his team leading fourth goal of the preseason to make it a 3-2 game.
With 4:18 left in the third, Ryan Gower tied the game with a shot from the left wall. His shot hit a stick on its way through, and was sent over Elliott’s blocker and in. Gower’s first of the preseason came at a clutch time, as it evened the score at 3-3.
After Aiden Oiring’s breakaway try was turned aside late in the third, the Blades were able to turn the play back into the Prince Albert end. Shortly after, Calvert found the back of the net for the second time in the game, tapping home a back door pass from Parr. With boos raining down after the fans thought a penalty should’ve been called on Oiring’s breakaway, the Blades were celebrating their new 4-3 lead with 1:26 left on the clock.
With the Raiders pouring on the pressure late in the game with the goalie pulled, Oiring found the perfect redemption from his previous chance, as he tied the game with 33 seconds left in regulation. Taking a pass from Doogan Pederson, Oiring took a shot from the right circle. Lukas Hansen laid down to block the shot, but it ended up hitting him and bouncing up and over Elliott, over the goal line to knot things up at 4-4. The building exploded as the preseason started to feel like the regular season. The buzzer would trickle down to zero seconds, and for the first time in the preseason, the Raiders would need overtime to find a winner.
The pace from the third period carried over into the extra frame, with both teams getting their share of chances. Harrison Lodewyk had the best chance, but he was denied on a breakway, trying to bury a backhand shot which was kicked aside by Elliott’s left pad.
65 minutes would not be enough, as a shootout quickly followed.
Oiring set the tone in the first round, scoring as the first shooter. Skating down the right wing, he cut back into the middle and sniped a shot past Elliott’s blocker to put the Raiders up. Riche stepped onto the ice to try and tie the shootout, but Kahl shut the door on his five hole try, as the Raiders led after round one.
Both Sivertson for the Raiders and Parr for the Blades couldn’t find the net, leaving the shootout tied after two rounds, and next up on the ice was Riley Boychuk with a chance to win the game for Prince Albert in the top of the third. Moving in slowly on goal, Boychuk ripped a shot past Elliott, winning the game for the Raiders, improving them to 3-1-0-0 in the preseason, and finishing a perfect 3-0-0-0 on home ice.
The Raiders and Blades will be right back at it tomorrow night to wrap up preseason play. The two clubs will battle it out in Warman. Puck drops at 7pm at the Warman Home Centre Communiplex.
