A wild night at the Art Hauser Centre, which featured a combined seven goals in the first period, saw the Saskatoon Blades fall 6-3 to the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday.
All three of Saskatoon’s goals came within the final six minutes of the opening frame, while the Raiders scored four in the first. Blades rookie forward Cooper Williams scored a goal and an assist in the loss, giving him four goals and five points in his last four games. The Blades’ second selection of the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft has 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points in 44 games this season.
Goaltender Evan Gardner saw his record fall to 17-12-2-1 after stopping 26 of 31 Raider shots.
The Highway 11 rivals are now tied for first place in the East Division with 51 points. Prince Albert wins the tie-breaker with 24 wins compared to Saskatoon’s 23.
It was all Prince Albert in the opening 14 minutes of the game as they jumped out to a 3-0. Rookie blueliner Daxon Rudolph opened the scoring for the Raiders with his fourth goal of the season. The first overall pick of the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft has points in ten straight games. 19-year-old forward Brayden Dube doubled Prince Albert’s lead just over three minutes later with his 20th goal of the season. The Roblin, MB product, finished the night with two points, while forward Tomas Mrsic and Aiden Oiring picked up their second assists of the night on the tally. Rookie forward Riley Boychuk made it 3-0 Prince Albert with his eighth goal of the season.
Williams found a spark for Saskatoon as he cut the Raiders’ lead down to two 33 seconds later. The Calgary, AB product snuck a puck through Raiders netminder Max Hildebrand on the goal line to get Saskatoon on the board.
Oiring picked up his third point of the night just over four minutes later with his 19th goal of the season. The Raiders looked poised to go into the intermission with a three-goal lead, but the Blades used the little time they had to respond.
Blades forward Hayden Harsanyi brought the Blades within two 26 seconds later with his fourth goal as a member of the Blades. The former Medicine Hat Tiger centre buried a shot on a 2-on-1 to give him five goals and ten points in 13 games this season.
Calgary Flames draft pick Hunter Laing cut the Blades deficit to one with 12 seconds left in the first. Laing’s got goals in back-to-back games, giving the former Prince George Cougar two goals and two assists in six games since joining the Bridge City Bunch. A wild opening frame with seven goals set the stage for a game that had plenty of hype before the puck drop.
The Blades threw everything they had at the Raiders in the second, outshooting them 16-5 through the middle frame. Despite several dangerous opportunities for the Blue and Gold, they trailed 4-3 after 40 minutes of play.
Raider forward Jackson Kostiuk scored his first goal as a member of the Raiders with 4:16 remaining in the third to make it 5-3 Prince Albert. Mrsic potted his 27th goal of the year into the empty net with 36 seconds remaining to seal the 6-3 victory.
What’s Next?
The rematch is set for Sunday, Jan. 26, at SaskTel Centre as the Blades can reclaim first place in the East Division.
Puck drop is 4:00 p.m.
