Raiders Doubled Up By Blades
Saskatoon, SK – The Prince Albert Raiders (13-15-5-2) weren’t able to shake off the rust from the holiday break as they were doubled up 4-2 by the Saskatoon Blades (16-17-2-1) at the SaskTel Centre on Wednesday night.
The Blades jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half of the game. Josh Paterson opened the scoring 4:08 into the game when he deflected a point shot over goaltender Ian Scott. About six minutes later, Cameron Hebig beat Scott on a mid-period power play for the two-goal lead.
Shortly after the mid-period break, the Raiders cut the lead to one. Brett Leason solved Nolan Maier with a wrist shot that went off the goaltender’s glove and into the net at the 7:16 mark. Less than a minute later, Max Martin sprung Devon Skoleski on a breakaway. The overager snuck a shot through Maier to tie the game.
In the second, the Blades re-gained their lead with two goals 1:02 apart. Following a turnover in the defensive end, Hebig was the beneficiary of a centring pass and tallied his second of the game. Then, Jackson Caller banged in a rebound to give Saskatoon a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.
The Raiders piled on the pressure in the final 10 minutes of the third period, but were unable to solve Maier to get back into the game. The Blades’ netminder made 20 saves in the win. Scott stopped 36 Saskatoon shots in a losing effort.
The two teams meet again tomorrow night in Prince Albert to close out the home-and-home series. Puck drop at the Art Hauser Centre is 7 p.m. Tickets are available at raiderhockey.com, the Raider Office, or by calling 306-764-5348.
