Blades knock off Raiders
The Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders appear primed for the playoffs.
In what could possibly be a preview of a second-round Western Hockey League playoff matchup, the Blades and rival Raiders played out their pre-playoff differences Friday night.
The Blades came out on top with a 3-2 victory before a season-high SaskTel Centre crowd announced at 9,188 fans on Fan Appreciation Night.
Saskatoon improves its record to 45-14-8-0, while Prince Albert slips to 53-10-2-2.
The Blades now have a 2-4-1 record in the season series, which continues Saturday night at Prince Albert to conclude the regular season.
The Blades’ winning streak now totals eight games. The Raiders were coming off a three-game streak from last week in which they outscored the Swift Current Broncos 20-0 in three games.
Parker Kelly opened the scoring for the Raiders just 1:21 into the game, ripping a shot right off a faceoff past Blades goalie Nolan Maier.
Brandon Schuldhaus knotted the game at 1-1 at 5:44 with a shot from the point.
Early in the second period, Saskatoon went ahead 2-1 just 37 seconds in during a 5-on-3 power-play advantage as Ryan Hughes banked in a backdoor pass behind Prince Albert goalie Ian Scott.
That held up until Noah Gregor tied things up for the Raiders, on the power play, at 4:49 of the third.
The Blades jumped ahead 3-2 on yet another two-man advantage, this time Max Gerlach connecting in front of Scott at 7:17.
While the Raiders pulled goalie Scott for the final minutes, the Blades had three chances to score into an empty net, but Gary Haden, Gerlach and Eric Florchuk each missed, but it didn’t matter.
Maier made 30 saves for the win as the Raiders outshot the Blades 32-30.
The Blades’ three graduating overage players — Gerlach, Schuldhaus and Dawson Davison — were honoured during a pre-game ceremony and given a gift from the Blades, who were represented by former Blades players Brent Ashton, Clarke Wilm and Garett Bembridge.
Also prior to the game, fan favourite Riley McKay was presented with the Subway Fans’ Choice Player of the Year award. Longtime season-ticket holders Randy and Karen Wapple were presented with the Fan of the Year award.