Sluggish third period proves to be the difference in Prince Albert’s 4-2 loss to Saskatoon
The Saskatoon Blades scored four goals in the third period to beat the Prince Albert Raiders 4-2 on Monday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
The Raiders scored the only goal of the first period, striking at the 11:22 mark. After Tomas Mrsic picked up a loose puck along the right wall, he fed a pass across the ice to Justice Christensen at the left point. From there, the Raider captain walked in and sniped a shot from the left circle, beating Evan Gardner over his glove hand. It was Christensen’s eighth goal of the season, putting Prince Albert up 1-0.
The Raiders went 0/2 on the powerplay in the first period, while the Blades went 0/1. Prince Albert outshot Saskatoon 14-8 in the opening 20 minutes, and took a one goal lead into the middle frame.
The rest of the scoring came in the third period, where play was controlled mostly by the Blades. A powerplay goal from Brandon Lisowsky tied the game 1:24 into the final frame, while Cooper Williams scored at the 4:06 mark to give Saskatoon their first lead of the night.
Brayden Dube responded for Prince Albert with 9:23 left in the third, scoring a powerplay goal to tie the game. Aiden Oiring poked a loose puck over to Dube, and he shoved a forehand shot home, scoring his 16th goal of the season to make it a 2-2 game.
The Blades got a powerplay with 4:22 left in regulation, and only took four seconds to score. It was Ben Riche who fired a shot home past Max Hildebrand, scoring his 21st goal of the campaign, giving the visitors a late 3-2 lead.
A controversial moment occurred with a minute and a half left in the game, as the Raiders had control in the Blades zone. The puck was heading towards the net, and a Saskatoon defenceman covered the puck with his hand. The referees blew the play dead thinking Gardner had covered it, but a replay proved definitively otherwise. They were not able to overturn the original call, preventing the Raiders from getting a chance to tie the game. They pulled the goalie, but an empty net goal by Hudson Kibblewhite made it a 4-2 game to seal the deal.
The Raiders and Blades wrap up a home and home set on New Year’s Day in Saskatoon. Puck drops from SaskTel Centre at 4pm.
