Blades continue mastery over Raiders with victory
Saskatoon has won four straight games against defending WHL champions
The Saskatoon Blades are heading into 2020 on a three-game winning streak.
Better yet — as far as those Blades are concerned — all three of those Western Hockey League victories have come at the expense of the rival Prince Albert Raiders.
The Blades swept the Raiders over the weekend, squeezing out a 3-2 victory Friday in Prince Albert before hanging on for a 6-3 win Saturday on home ice at Sasktel Centre. They also beat the Raiders in their final game prior to Christmas.
“We wanted to end 2019 on a high note, and I feel like we did that,” said Blades defenceman Matt Sanders, who notched his first-ever WHL goal just 1:50 into Saturday’s win. “They weren’t the prettiest wins, but, with just one practice in (on Boxing Day) before these two games, these are huge victories and four points for us.
“They’re our rival, right? They don’t like us; we don’t like them. It goes both ways. So it’s exciting that we kind of have their number right now, and we’ve just got to keep playing them hard because they’re a hard team to play against and so are we. We’ve just got to keep playing them tough.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Saskatoon now enjoys a 5-1-0 record this season against the defending WHL champion Prince Albert.
“I don’t know if there is a key — I don’t know if there’s a secret recipe or anything,” said Blades assistant captain Scott Walford.
“I just think we come out and really embrace the rivalry. It’s something that we maybe have to do against other teams, bring that intensity to every game. They (Raiders) are on top of our division for a reason. They’re a fast team. They’re a hard team to play against, and they’re well coached. I think it’s good for us to take that into the next games, and we can control what kind of team we are.”
The Blades have won their last four games against the Raiders dating back to Oct. 4.
Despite their latest losses, the northern rivals still lead the WHL’S East Division with a 20-11-3-1 record and 44 points. They’re just one point up on the surging Winnipeg Ice, currently 21-13-1-0.
The Blades, who improved their record to 17-15-1-2 and 37 points, remain in third place in the WHL’S East Division, four points up on the Brandon Wheat Kings.
On Saturday, the Blades scored on their very first shot on net with Saskatoon-born rookie Carter Serhyenko in net for the Raiders. He allowed three goals on four shots.
“The young guy had a tough time in there,” admitted Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid.
“This is his hometown, and he’s been really good for us. This is really his first game where he had a tough night. He’s a young guy. Whatever experience, good or bad, it’s still an experience for him, but I felt bad for him because he’s been real consistent for us but he had a tough one.”
Serhyenko got replaced by Boston Bilous after the Blades’ third goal. The Blades went on to score four goals on nine shots and five goals on 11 shots.
“That definitely had us on our heels, and it stunted us a little bit,” said Habscheid. “Once we got our composure and our legs under us, then we carried the play and left a little bit too much, too late.”
Walford led the Blades with two goals and an assist Saturday. Chase
Wouters, Colton Dach, Kyle Crnkovic and Sanders rounded out the scoring.
“We really needed a good start to set the tone,” said Sanders.
“It was nice to get that one (first WHL goal) off my back. It was long overdue and it was exciting and a good way to start the game. I’m happy that it went in, and I’m excited that it went in.”
Ilya Usau, with a pair of goals, and fellow Belarus native Aliaksei Protas replied for Prince Albert.
Usau and Protas — who recently represented Belarus at the IIHF world junior B pool hockey championship — scored just 33 seconds apart in the final two minutes of the second period to make Saturday’s game interesting.
Nolan Maier was once again stellar in net against the Raiders, stopping 35 of 38 shots to earn his fifth win against Prince Albert this season.
Maier made 32 saves in Friday’s 3-2 win in Prince Albert, where the Blades were a bit fortunate to escape with two points.
Mckay tallied twice and Dach once for Saskatoon, which got outshot 34-15 and went 0-for-6 on the power play, yet prevailed.
“Nolan’s a phenomenal goalie and, any time that he has a great game, we normally win,” said Walford. “Overall, it was nice to get him a couple (of wins). He bailed us (out Friday) and down the stretch (Saturday).”
The Blades return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 1 when they host the Winnipeg Ice for New Year’s Day. Game time is 2 p.m. at Sasktel Centre.