Silvertips cash in on Raiders bend in 3-2 Game 3 win

Everett takes 2-1 lead in WHL Championship Series

Julius Miettnen (#17) does a fly by after his game-winning goal.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Michal Orsulak couldn’t stop everything.

That was the belief the Everett Silvertips had as they fired piles and piles of pucks at the rookie import star netminder of the Prince Albert Raiders in Game 3 of the WHL Championship Series on Tuesday night at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre. Entering the third period locked in a 2-2 tie, it appeared Orsulak was going to force the contest to go to overtime as the visiting Silvertips held a 21-8 edge in shots on goal.

Everett broke through with 4:28 remaining in the third. Silvertips standout sophomore defenceman Brek Liske took a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle and the puck rebounded off Orsulak’s left pad to the right side of the Prince Albert net.

Julius Miettinen scored the winning goal for the Silvertips.

The rebound landed right on the stick of Silvertips star import centre Julius Miettinen. Miettinen put a backhand shot into the open right side of the Prince Albert net to give the Silvertips a 3-2 lead.

The Silvertips then had to close out the third by surviving a buzzer-beating shot attempt by Raiders standout sophomore right-winger Riley Boychuk. With the final seconds ticking away in the third, Boychuk found himself in position for a mid-range shot off to the left of the Everett net. Boychuk’s drive just missed going into an open top right corner of the Everett net allowing the Silvertips to hold on to a 3-2 victory to the disappointment of almost all the sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the 2,580 seat facility.

“The puck just kind of came out to my stick, and I had an empty net,” said Miettinen, who leads the current WHL Playoffs with 13 goals. “I can’t really miss those when I get a chance.”

Matias Vanhanen had the Silvertips first goal on Tuesday.

The win by the Silvertips gives them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven set. Game 4 is set for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. local time back at the Hauser.

Miettinen centres the Silvertips top line that includes star right-winger Carter Bear and star import rookie left-winger Matias Vanhanen. They accounted for two of Everett’s three goals as Vanhanen opened the game’s scoring at the 11:45 mark of the first period by jetting into the Prince Albert zone on a solo effort and wiring a shot from just above the left faceoff circle past Orsulak.

Bear had assists on both Miettinen’s and Vanhanen’s markers. In the three games of the WHL final, Miettinen had three goals and four assists, Bear had three goals and two assists, and Vanhanen had one goal and two assists.

Michal Orsulak turned away 41 shots in net for the Raiders.

“I think we just outworked the lines we were playing against,” said Miettinen. “We crashed the net, and we have a lot of rebounds.

“We have three great players on the same line, and I feel like you can’t really match that line.”

After Vanhanen gave the Silvertips a 1-0 lead, the Raiders pulled even while working on the power play. With 1:41 remaining in the first, Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes passed the puck to star centre Max Heise at the top of the left faceoff circle, and Heise one-timed home his fourth tally of the post-season to even the score at 1-1.

Just 1:59 into the second frame, the Raiders jumped ahead 2-1 as Ben Harvey from the front of the Everett net tipped home a mid-range shot from Raiders captain Justice Christensen. At that point in the contest, the action was fairly tight checking as the shots on goal were even at 8-8.

Braeden Cootes had an assist for the Raiders.

Harvey was pleased to be able to help manufacture a goal at that point in the contest to put his team ahead.

“Obviously, it was a big moment in the game,” said Harvey. “We just have to continue to stick with it, and finish off the full 60.”

From that point in the contest, the Silvertips really started to pepper Orsulak. Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald said you could feel the game turn at the midway point of the second.

“I thought we played a really good first 30 minutes,” said McDonald. “We were quick, (and) we were direct.

“We got pucks behind and got to work. Then, they were able to tilt the ice on us. Discipline has to be a big key for us, and you’ve got to stay out of the penalty box and not give them some opportunities on the power play.

Max Heise had the Raiders first goal on Tuesday.

“I thought our penalty kill did a great job when they were out there, but again, those are hard minutes that you’ve got to play. For us on the power play, we just got to look to capitalize on our opportunities and continue to keep inching that shot clock up. Again, we have an opportunity for us to reset, refocus and get ready for tomorrow.”

For a moment, it looked like the Raiders were going to escape the second period with the lead. That all changed with 1:53 remaining in the second, when Silvertips defenceman Luke Vlooswyk, who turned 19-years-old in January, fired a point shot through a screen to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net to even the score at 2-2. That goal was Vlooswyk’s first career tally in WHL post-season action.

“It was pretty exciting to get that monkey off the back,” said Vlooswyk. “It felt unbelievable.

Ben Harvey (#20) gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead early in the second.

“(It was a) big goal, and I think we got a lot of energy off of it.”

At the start of the third, the Raiders killed off two Silvertips power plays, which included playing 68 seconds where Everett held a five-on-three advantage. The Raiders proceeded to get back-to-back power plays, but they were unable to take the lead. That set the stage for Miettinen’s winner and the dramatics in the final seconds of the third.

Silvertips head coach Steve Hamilton said the two penalty kills his team got in the third were big for his side and gave credit to Silvertips star netminder Anders Miller for ensuring those penalty kills were successful.

“It was pivotal in the game,” said Hamilton. “I’d prefer we didn’t have to see it at that time in the game, but the guy’s bench talk was good.

Justice Christensen (#7) had an assist for the Raiders.

“There was a sense of confidence and a sense of purpose, when you’re going into those moments. Let’s be honest. The game hangs in the balance in those types of moments.

“Guys dug in and got key blocks. Your best penalty killer is always going to be your goaltender. I thought Anders (Miller) was excellent tonight.”

Orsulak turned away 41 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Miller stopped 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips.

Liske finished with two assists for Everett.

The Raiders were 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Silvertips were 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

The Raiders were without star defenceman Daxon Rudolph on Tuesday, because he was sitting out a one-game WHL league imposed suspension for receiving a cross-checking major and a game misconduct near the end of Silvertips’ 6-2 victory in Game 2 on Saturday in Everett. Rudolph was in a battle with Bear and would end up cross-checking the Silvertips forward in the head.

Luke Vlooswyk reactions to getting the equalizer for the Silvertips.

Prince Albert’s coaches placed Linden Burrett on the top defensive pairing with Christensen to take the spot Rudolph normally occupied. Hubert Clarke, who is an 18-year-old rookie, dressed for his first career game in the WHL Playoffs playing on the Raiders blue-line. Clarke played with Brock Cripps, while 19-year-old import rookie Matyas Man was paired with Benett Kelly.

Burrett thought the juggling on the back end went well for his squad, and he felt ready to shoulder extra responsibilities on the Raiders top defensive pairing.

“Obviously, I’m willing to take the role,” said Burrett. “It is something I honour.

Carter Bear had a pair of assists for the Silvertips.

“I’m just trying to go out there and play my game as best I can. “Juice” (Christensen) is obviously a good player, so that is not very hard to adapt to.”

Going into the WHL final, there was no clear cut favourite.

Everett topped the WHL regular season standings, the Western Conference and the U.S. Division with a 57-8-2-1 record and was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Silvertips 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records.

Prince Albert topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. The Raiders were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Raiders and Silvertips went head-to-head once in the regular season, where Prince Albert posted a 4-1 victory on November 11, 2025 at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

Anders Miller makes one of his 18 saves in goal for the Silvertips.

On the key injury front, the Raiders were without star left-winger Brandon Gorzynski with an undisclosed injury. 

He was injured in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series that the Raiders dropped 5-0 to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers at the Hauser.

The Silvertips were without star defenceman and captain Tarin Smith with an undisclosed injury. 

He was injured in Game 4 of a 6-3 victory over the Winterhawks in Portland as Everett closed out the first round series between the two clubs at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Brek Liske had a pair of assists for the Silvertips.

After the dust settled from Game 3 on Tuesday, Hamilton was pleased his squad took the series lead.

“We got it done,” said Hamilton. “Sometimes, how you want it scripted and how it gets scripted are two different things.

“We took the hand we were dealt there, and we really got it over the line. I was proud of our group in that third. (We are) one step further down the road.”

McDonald is looking forward to his team battling back. The Raiders trailed the Eastern Conference Championship Series 2-1 against the Medicine Hat Tigers before rallying to take that set in six games.

“It is never easy here in the finals,” said McDonald. “No games are ever easy.

The Silvertips celebrate their Game 3 win on Tuesday night.

“You just have to keep fighting. You have to keep striving for that consistent 60-minute effort and keep making sure that our details and our habits are tight and keep inching forward.”

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Power of the Hauser – Raiders roll to 8-3 win over Tigers

Prince Albert claims opener of Eastern Conference final

The Raiders and their fans enjoy a goal from Brayden Dube (#15).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders could feel the power of the Art Hauser Centre.

On Friday night, the Raiders were once again out to show home ice advantage is a real thing, when they skate in their storied and historic rink in Game 1 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series against the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers. In that clash, the Raiders scored first, led 2-1 after the first period, went ahead 4-1 at one point in the second before cruising to an 8-3 victory.

The victory came before a raucous sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the 2,580 seat facility.

“I thought we played well,” said Raiders captain Justice Christensen, whose squad will host the Tigers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Hauser. “We got to our pace and our hunt like we wanted to do early.

Part of the Hauser’s sellout crowd cheer on the Raiders.

“We scored some big goals there at some key times, and then we just continued to build. Overall, I was just happy with the game.”

Christensen, who has been a full-time member of the Raiders since the start of 2022-23 campaign, said the enthusiasm of the fans gave his team a boost. Throughout the day on Friday, it snowed steadily in “Hockey Town North” creating large snow banks and road conditions that were far from optimal. When looking out at the crowd at the Hauser, it appeared there were very few unused tickets, and Christensen said the players picked up on that.

“The atmosphere is great,” said Christensen, whose team is 6-0 at home in the current WHL post-season. “There is a lot of energy, and they are behind us.

Brock Cripps had three assists for the Raiders on Friday.

“Coming out to that kind of energy gives us a lot of energy, and it was a lot of fun to play in front of.”

During the pre-game, Raiders long time anthem singer and billet mom Carole Ring raised her microphone to the crowd to let the fans sing a large part of the national anthem. When the game got going, the Raiders hit the scoreboard first at the 6:39 mark of the first period.

On a Tigers rush up ice, Raiders 20-year-old star centre Aiden Oiring knocked the puck off the stick of a Tigers player at centre ice to Raider 18-year-old import left-winger Alisher Sarkenov. Sarkenov quickly got the puck back to Oiring to start a rush into the Medicine Hat zone.

Brayden Dube had the Raiders first goal on Friday.

Oiring passed the puck to star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube on the right wing. Dube blew past the Tigers defence to get in alone on Medicine Hat rookie standout netminder Carter Casey. The Raiders forward tucked a backhand home five-hole on Casey to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

So far in this year’s WHL Playoffs, the Raiders have scored first in all 10 games they have played.

With 4:23 remaining in the first, the Tigers answered back. Tigers star left-winger Markus Ruck entered the Prince Albert zone on a two-on-one break jetting down the left wing. He blew a shot to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net past Raiders star rookie import netminder Michal Orsulak to even the score at 1-1.

Before the opening frame ended, Christensen fired home a point shot for his first goal of the post-season to put the Raiders up 2-1 heading into the first intermission.

Markus Ruck had the Tigers first goal on Friday.

Prince Albert kept rolling in the second, when head-turning 16-year-old rookie left-winger Ben Harvey put home a shot from the left point to push the Raiders lead out to 3-1 just 2:43 into the frame. With 6:07 remaining in the second, the Raider struck on the power-play when star centre Max Heise one-timed home a shot from the front of the Medicine Hat net to give the hosts a 4-1 advantage. At that point, it seemed like nothing could stop the noise at the Hauser hitting louder and louder heights.

“I had chills going out there tonight,” said Heise. “It is pretty cool to see this community and this town rally around our team.

“It is really special, and all the boys in there get fired up for it.”

Justice Christensen scored his first goal of the 2026 post-season.

The Tigers attempted to push back. With 3:02 remaining in the second, Tigers sophomore 17-year-old centre Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll redirected home a puck to the back of the Prince Albert net to trim the Raiders lead to 4-2 heading into the second intermission.

The Raiders proceeded to open the third with power-play goals coming off the sticks of Oiring and Sarkenov to surge the host side’s lead out to 6-2. Tigers captain Bryce Pickford off a mid-range shot to trim the Raiders edge to 6-3.

Prince Albert rounded out the game’s scoring with Oiring netting his second of the contest and Evan Smith potting home a single.

Max Heise (#14) does the fly by after scoring on the power play.

“I thought Prince Albert was better than us tonight,” said Tigers legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins. “I thought they worked hard.

“I thought they won a lot of one-on-one battles. We knew it was going to be a tough building coming into, and we were right. It was a tough building, and it didn’t go the way we wanted.”

Orsulak stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Casey turned away 31 shots to take the setback in net for the Tigers.

Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll had the Tigers second goal on Friday.

Raiders standout 16-year-old rookie defenceman Brock Cripps picked up three assists on Friday, while star centre Braeden Cootes and star defenceman Daxon Rudolph each had a pair of assists.

Also in the contest, the Raiders were 3-for-4 on the power play, while the Tigers didn’t see any time playing with the man advantage. Medicine Hat was without star defenceman Jonas Woo and 20-year-old right-winger Ethan Neutens with undisclosed ailments, and they are basically day-to-day.

The Raiders topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Ben Harvey had one goal for the Raiders on Friday.

The Tigers, who are the defending WHL champions, finished second in the Eastern Conference, captured the Central Division title and finished third overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 50-10-5-3 mark. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

During the 2025-26 regular season, the Raiders and Tigers met four times. Each side claimed two regulation time wins including one victory at home and one the road. Each side scored 16 goals in those four head-to-head contests.

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald, who was born and raised in Prince Albert, loved the energy his team’s fans brought in Game 1 on Friday.

“This place is electric,” said McDonald. “I said in the pre-game media that I don’t think four feet of snow could have kept Raider fans out of this rink for this game tonight.

Raiders G Michal Orsulak pounces on a puck in a crowd.

“Our crowd and our fan base is extremely passionate, and they really rally our group.”

While the Raiders got a lift from their fans, Desjardins, who has seen pretty much everything in his coaching career, was not shaken by what happened on Friday. He said that before the Eastern Conference final with the Raiders started he had it in his mind that every game was going to be a hard game.

“Once a game is done, it is just done, and you move on to the next one,” said Desjardins. “It is just real simple.

“It doesn’t matter if you win. It doesn’t matter if you lose. They can win, and I believe we can win in this building.”

Aiden Oiring had two goals and an assist for the Raiders.

Desjardins said the Raiders a high-quality opponent, and with that said, he wouldn’t waiver in the belief he has in his player.

“I just think they’re a really good hockey team,” said Desjardins. “I have to believe that we’ll find a way to be better.

“We weren’t good enough tonight, and it is pretty simple. They were just a better team tonight.”

Looking towards Game 2 on Saturday, Heise said his Raiders just have to keep up the strong effort like they had in Game 1.

“We’ve seen these guys before a lot,” said Heise. “They’re really fast off the transition.

“We’ve got to get pucks under and just keep playing physical on them. They are a really good team over there. You’ve got to give them credit.

The Raiders salute their fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

“They’ll capitalize on chances too, so we’ve got to be stronger in the D-zone.”

NOTES – The Raiders had another huge 50/50 pot for Friday’s game with online sale combined with sales in the building. The take home prize was $98,450 and will go to the person with ticket number B-144538.

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Raiders series sweep victory would not be denied

Blades go down with big final battle in 5-3 defeat

The Raiders celebrate their series win over the Blades.

You have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good.

On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the puck was taking all sorts of positive bounces for the Prince Albert Raiders in the first period in Game 4 of their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against their archrivals in the host Saskatoon Blades. Thanks to three positive bounce goals, the Raiders surged ahead of the Blades 4-1 in the first period holding a 15-4 edge in shots on goal in Game 4 of a WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.

With the Raiders having built a 3-0 series lead in rather dominant fashion, it could have been easy for the Blades to pack it in after the three positive bounce goals went the Raiders way in the opening 20 minutes of Game 4 coming away with the thought that it is just not meant to happen for them.

Raiders fans celebrate their team’s series sweep.

The Blades battled back with their best two periods of the series cutting the Raiders lead to 4-3 in the second period. Star right-winger Hunter Laing and captain Tyler Parr fired home goals that got the host side back into the game.

Inside the final 70 seconds of the second, a puck from a battle along the left boards at centre ice came out to Raiders star centre Max Heise. Heise jetted into the Saskatoon zone on a rush down the left wing and wired a bullet shot short side to the top left corner of the Blades net to make the Raiders lead stand at 5-3 with 57.7 seconds to play in the frame. That tally, which was the first of the post-season for Heise, proved to be a dagger goal.

The two sides proceeded to skate to a stalemate in the third allowing that 5-3 score to hold up as the game’s final outcome. The Raiders swept the set 4-0 to advance to the Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time since 2019, when they last won the WHL title.

David Lewandowski reacts to the Blades season coming to an end.

At game’s end, the 6,361 spectators in the building, who were engaged with the contest all night, paid respects to both squads. The Raiders faithful, who were present in large numbers making just a 75 minute drive down Highway 11 to “The Bridge City,” celebrated the fact their squad was going to a conference final in what has been a memorable season.

The Blades faithful, which still made up the majority of the crowd, gave their team a rousing final salute. In the first round of the WHL Playoffs, the Blades pulled off an inspiring seven game series upset of the heavily favoured Edmonton Oil Kings to set up the rivalry series against the Raiders.

A quartet of Blades supporters take in post-game happenings.

Raiders captain Justice Christensen was pleased his squad got the win on Wednesday to advance to the WHL’s final four in the post-season.

“It means a lot,” said Christensen. “The guys battled hard tonight and are definitely enjoying it right now.

“We will move on here pretty quick, but enjoy it for the time being.”

With that noted, Christensen was part of the Raiders underdog squad that fell to the Blades in five games in the opening round of the WHL Playoffs in 2024, when the Blades finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings. The Blades went to the Eastern Conference final falling 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 at home to the Moose Jaw Warriors, who would move on to win the WHL title.

Rowan Calvert give a final salute to the SaskTel Centre crowd.

The Raiders star defenceman was happy his squad returned the favour to the Blades this season, when Prince Albert was favoured to beat the Saskatoon side.

“It was nice for sure to get that one and do it four,” said Christensen. “I definitely didn’t forget about that one in 2024.

“I had that in the back of my mind the whole time, so it was nice to get it done.”

Parr, who exhausted his WHL eligibility with Wednesday’s setback, was on the victorious side in the 2024 series with the Blades. He didn’t like being on the losing end of the series this time, but he enjoyed the fight his team put up.

“It sucks losing to the Raiders, but I’m super proud of this group over the year,” said Parr, who graduates from the team along with standout left-winger Rowan Calvert. “I am super proud of the effort against them.

The Raiders and Blades shake hands at the conclusion of Game 4.

“I am super proud of the effort in this series. We fought right to the end, so I’m super proud of the guys.”

The positive bounces for the Raiders started just 68 seconds into Wednesday’s contest. Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes had the puck below the icing line in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone. Cootes banked the puck off the back of Blades star netminder Evan Gardner into the Saskatoon net to put the visitors up 1-0.

Imports Alisher Sarkenov, left, and Elias Pul visit at game’s end.

A short time later, Blades star import left-winger David Lewandowski rang a shot off the post of the Prince Albert net.

Moments after that scoring chance, the Raiders would cash in on their second positive bounce. Raiders 16-year-old breakout rookie defenceman Brock Cripps banked a shot off teammate in 19-year-old standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty into the Saskatoon net to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0 at the 4:53 mark of the opening frame. McCagherty was actually being guarded well by sophomore defenceman Jack Kachkowski, when Prince Albert’s second goal banked home off the Raiders forward.

Members of the Raiders faithful salutes their team.

Just 79 seconds after that tally, Raiders standout rookie import defenceman Matyas Man fired home a shot from a sharp angle at the left side of the Saskatoon net to the top right corner of the Blades goal to make the Raiders lead sit at 3-0. The Blades immediately called a timeout to regroup after that tally.

The Blade proceeded to get a break just 38 seconds later, when Lewandowski put home an off-speed shot close to the blue-line along the right boards for his fourth of the post-season to trim the Raiders lead to 3-1. Lewandownski’s shot went through an inadvertent screen by a Raiders player skating through the play that blocked the visit of Prince Albert’s star import netminder Michal Orsulak.

Max Heise scored the Raiders fifth goal, and it was a big one.

Blades offensive-defenceman Brayden Klimpke would proceed to hit a goalpost setting the stage for the next big positive bounce for the Raiders.

With 2:57 remaining in the opening frame, Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph drove a shot on net that Gardner got a piece of. The puck proceeded to fall into the crease of the Saskatoon net and started to slowly creep towards the goal. Blades defenceman Jordan Martin went to play the puck and inadvertently poked it into his own net to make the Raiders advantage sit at 4-1.

“We were playing on them,” said Rudolph. “We were getting pucks in, getting behind them and playing a fast game, which is hard to play against.

“I think sometimes pucks can get bouncing when you’re rushing plays and things like that. I don’t really know what the reason is, but fortunate for us, we will take those bounces there in the first.”

Braeden Cootes had the Raiders first goal on Wednesday.

The Blades proceeded to battle back in the second period, where they outshot the Raiders 16-9. At the 11:39 mark of the frame, the Blades got a gritty goal as Laing found a loose puck around the Prince Albert net during a net scramble and popped it home to trim the Raiders lead to 4-2.

Just 2:51 later and working on a rare four-versus-three power play, Parr drove a mid range shot home through a screen from the front of the Prince Albert net to cut the Raiders lead to 4-3.

“The first wasn’t what we wanted at all obviously,” said Parr. “They came out pretty hard.

“We just kind of said, ‘This is it.’ It is time to get desperate. They’ve challenged us here, and it is how do we respond.

Brock Cripps (#12) works some creativity in the offensive zone.

“There was only one option, and that was to do everything we could to fight back into the game and we did that. It was a two-goal game, but a bounce here, a bounce there, it could have been tied. I’m just super proud of how we responded after the adversity in the first period, and I hope the guys can learn from that.”

Heise proceeded to pot his insurance goal with 57.7 seconds remaining in the second.

With about 13 minutes remaining in the third, Blades standout centre Hayden Harsanyi rang a shot off the crossbar of the Prince Albert net to further add to the total of bounces that did go in the direction of the host side.

The Raiders celebrate a goal from Maddix McCagherty (#17).

Orsulak stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Evan Gardner turned away 25 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

“I’m just really proud of our group, how we played,” said Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald. “I thought our start was absolutely tremendous as we got to our skating legs right away.

“Even the resilience throughout the game, the Blades pushed hard. That is a real scrappy team over there, and again, they didn’t go away and kept pushing us and again got the game close. We had to again buckle down and get back to our game.

“Give our guys a lot of credit, we got into that third period and really locked things down.”

Blades head coach Dan DaSilva was proud of how his club responded, when it looked like things were going to go south fast for his club in the opening frame.

Matyas Man scored the Raiders third goal on Wednesday.

“I thought that it (the game) was unfortunate the way it started,” said DaSilva. “I think our guys were excited, and they were ready to go.

“We had a couple of bad breaks early and got behind the eight ball right away. As we’ve seen all year long, there is no quit in our group. They used the timeout and the intermission to reset and get back to work.

“They played with so much pride in the last 40 minutes. They weren’t going to say die. I thought we had our best period of the series in the second period there.”

Going into this rivalry series, the Raiders were the favourites.

They finished first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the league with a 52-10-5-1 record during the regular season. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the first round of the playoffs, Prince Albert eliminated the Red Deer Rebels, who were eighth in the Eastern Conference, in five games.

Daxon Rudolph netted the winning goal for the Raiders.

The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark. In the first round of the playoffs, they upset the Edmonton Oil Kings, who were third in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the WHL, in seven games taking Game 7 by a 3-2 score in overtime. In the seven games against the Oil Kings, the Blades played their best hockey of the 2025-26 campaign.

DaSilva was pleased his squad bowed out on a note where they battled hard in their Game 4 season ending loss to the Raiders in their Eastern Conference semifinal.

“It was our best game of the series,” said DaSilva. “We still came up short, hit a few posts, a couple of bad bounces.

The Blades celebrate a goal from captain Tyler Parr (#20).

“It is behind us now. I am just proud of the group, proud of the season and proud of everything that they gave. It is truly a pleasure to stand in front of that group and coach them every day.

“They are hard workers. They’re good human beings and good young men. We had a lot of fun this year.”

Before the playoffs started, expectations were high that the Raiders would face the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers in a heavyweight showdown in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series. The Tigers finished second overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and third in the league’s overall standings at 50-10-5-3. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Tyler Parr ensures a young fan leaves with a big memory.

On Wednesday, the Tigers finished off the other Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in a 4-0 sweep posting a 5-2 victory over the Hitmen in Calgary in Game 4 of that set. The heavyweight showdown between the Raiders and the Tigers in the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series will happen with the schedule to be announced.

It is expected both clubs will have about eight off days between games as the two Western Conference semifinal series are still ongoing. The Tigers swept the Raiders in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series a year ago.

For now, the Raiders want to enjoy for a short time the fact they swept away their archrivals in the Blades and are now 5-4 in all-time post-season series between the two clubs.

The Blades give a final salute to their fans at the SaskTel Centre.

“It feels good, obviously,” said Rudolph. “We have a long, historic rivalry here against the Blades.

“To come out on top in this series is definitely big for us. It is just a super happy feeling right now and super happy to get it done.”

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Raiders in command of Eastern Conference Semifinal

Prince Albert takes 2-0 lead in series with rival Blades

The Raiders celebrate a winning goal from Owen Corkish (#32).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders are in the driver’s seat.

On Saturday playing before a raucous sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the 2,580 seat storied and historic Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders blanked their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades 3-0 in Game 2 of a WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series while also holding a 37-15 edge in shots on goal. Combined with their convincing 6-1 victory in Game 1 on Friday before another sellout crowd at the Hauser, the Raiders hold a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven set.

The series now switches over to Saskatoon. Games 3 and 4 will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at the SaskTel Centre for a 7 p.m. start time on both nights.

Owen Corkish does a flyby after scoring for the Raiders.

Going into those two upcoming contests in Saskatoon, the Raiders are feeling good about where they are at.

“It feels amazing,” said Raider 18-year-old rookie right-winger Owen Corkish. “It feels really good.

“We’re not going to get too overwhelmed. We’re going to stay simple and keep doing the things we need to do, and that is what is going to lead us to success.”

In Saturday’s clash, the two sides played through a scoreless first period, where the Raiders held an 11-3 advantage in shots on goal. Prince Albert’s shots were put up via a more gradual pace due to the Blades doing a little better job of getting to pucks in their own zone and transitioning up ice.

Evan Gardner mades one of his 34 saves in goal for the Blades.

The Blades looked like they were going to get the biggest first break of the contest when Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube was given a double minor for high sticking. That infraction will be automatically reviewed by the WHL Office for a possible suspension, which is a standard practice by the circuit.

The visitors weren’t able to create any dangerous scoring chances on those two power-play chances due to the Raiders stellar work on the penalty kill.

With 10:05 remaining in the second period, a fight developed between two unlikely combatants in Raiders standout 16-year-old rookie defenceman Brock Cripps and Blades 17-year-old rookie centre Ben Bowtell. The two combined for 48 penalty minutes during the regular season. Both players got a couple of good shots in before the two players ended up wrapped up together after the short bout.

A Raiders fan has sympathy for Blades goalie Evan Gardner.

That set the stage for the Raiders to break onto the scoreboard. With about 6:30 remaining in the second, the Blades broke into the Prince Albert zone and Blades sophomore star centre Cooper Williams appeared in prime shooting position with the puck in front of the Raiders net.

Raiders star centre Max Heise stole the puck from Williams and passed the puck to Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph to start a rush up ice. Rudolph passed the puck up to Raiders standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty, who entered the Saskatoon zone jetting down the left wing.

McCagherty dropped the puck back to Rudolph at the top of the left faceoff circle. Rudolph fired a drive on goal that deflected off Blades star netminder Evan Gardner, bounced off Corkish and went into the Saskatoon net to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

Brock Cripps (#12) tangles with Ben Bowtell (#71).

“I saw Rudolph about to shoot the puck there on the net,” said Corkish. “I thought I should stand in front of the net and see what happens, see if there is a rebound.

“Luckily, it went off me and then in the net, so it was nice.”

With 2:04 remaining in the second, the Raiders pushed their lead out to 2-0. Blades defenceman Jack Kachkowski was trying to hold the puck in the Prince Albert zone at the left point, when he had the puck taken away from him by Raiders standout import rookie left-winger Alisher Sarkenov.

Sarkenow passed the puck to Raiders standout 17-year-old rookie right-winger Jonah Sivertson to start a two-on-one break into the Saskatoon zone. Sivertson ripped his first of the post-season to the top left corner of the Saskatoon net to give the Raiders their two-goal advantage.

Michal Orsulak made 15 saves to pick up a shutout win.

Just 61 seconds into the second, Sivertson was working with the puck along the left boards of the Saskatoon zone. He passed the puck to 19-year-old import shutdown defenceman Matyas Man, who one-timed home his first of the post-season to give the Raiders their 3-0 edge.

“I was pretty confident not that I am going to score, but that I am going to hit the net,” said Man. “I was like a little bit surprised that I scored.

“I am not there to score the goals. We have a lot of other players to score too.”

The Raiders proceeded to cruise to victory from that point.

Michal Orsulak stopped all 15 shots he faced to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Raiders. It was the second shutout of the post-season for Orsulak. Gardner turned away 34 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

Daxon Rudolph had an assist for the Raiders.

“I thought it was a better effort from our group for sure,” said Blades head coach Dan DaSilva. “We asked them to simplify our game, play a little bit harder, a little faster and a little more north-south.

“I thought that we did that for the most part. We were right there over halfway through the second period 0-0. We take a chance on a rush, a four-on-three, we don’t execute, and they come back and put it in the back of our net.

“It was a better effort from our group for sure. It is going to be a tall task. We know that, but I think it was a step in the right direction.”

During the first two games of the series in Prince Albert, Gardner has been the target of heckles from the Raiders faithful. DaSilva has no complaints about how his puck stopper, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, has played.

The faithful in the Art Hauser Centre cheer on the Raiders.

“Evan (Gardner) has been great,” said DaSilva. “He has given us everything he has back there.

“He has made some huge saves, especially early in the second period there. He stopped a couple of net front scrambles, made a couple of good pad saves and gave us an opportunity to keep on fighting. That is all you can ask of your goalie.

“I thought he has handled himself really well so far in this series.”

Going into this rivalry series, the Raiders were the favourites.

They finished first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the league with a 52-10-5-1 record during the regular season. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the first round of the playoffs, Prince Albert eliminated the Red Deer Rebels, who were eighth in the Eastern Conference, in five games.

Jonah Sivertson (#28) celebrates scoring for the Raiders.

The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark. In the first round of the playoffs, they upset the Edmonton Oil Kings, who were third in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the WHL, in seven games taking Game 7 by a 3-2 score in overtime. In the seven games against the Oil Kings, the Blades played their best hockey of the 2025-26 campaign.

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald has been pleased with how his club has played in their first two games of their post-season series with the Blades and how his squad battled in Game 2.

“I thought our guys did a tremendous job,” said McDonald. “We stuck with it.

Matyas Man was named a named the game’s second star.

“It took a period and a bit to get the first one. They (the Blades) came out hard. They pushed.

“We pushed back and continued to play fast, continued to play up the ice and play north and got our opportunities. The P.K. did a great job with a big kill at the end of the first and the second. We just continued to create our push from there.”

Now the series switches over to the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, and Man believes the Blades will come out with their best effort of the series in those contests.

“I think it is going to be harder,” said Man, who was a plus-three in the plus-minus department on Saturday. “They are going to have their fans, so as players, I think we just need to stick with what we are good in.

The Raiders salute their fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

“We just need to stick to our game.”

NOTE – The Raiders 50/50 jackpot drew a ticket where a team record $100,025 goes to the winner. As of the time this post went life, the jackpot had not been claimed. The winning number is C-115039.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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