Raiders rally brings down Blades in Game 2 in Prince Albert

Raiders D Zack Hayes hugs goalie Ian Scott after the team’s win.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – For the Saskatoon Blades, it was the classic tale of the one that got away.

    For the Prince Albert Raiders it was a classic comeback.

    In Game 2 of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series on Sunday, the Blades came out with an inspired effort jumping out to a 2-0 lead at the 4:35 mark of the second period.

    Things changed with 28.2 seconds remaining in the second frame when Raiders 19-year-old defenceman Zack Hayes scored just after a Prince Albert power-play expired to cut the Saskatoon lead to 2-1.

    By the 2:11 mark of the third, the Raiders surged ahead 3-2 sending the sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre into delirium.

Raiders C Sean Montgomery (#25) battles for the puck.

    The Blades pressed in the closing moments of the third and failed to find the equalizer on two power-play chances.

    Raiders star netminder Ian Scott slammed the door the rest of the way ultimately making 24 saves in the 3-2 victory for the Prince Albert side.

    The win gives the Raiders a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Blades. It also gave the Raiders a lift heading into Game 3 on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

    Sunday’s clash was more the type of encounter you expected to see from the two sides and unlike the 6-1 romp posted by the Raiders in Game 1 on Friday. Some of the series storylines came to life too.

Kirby Dach scored a sick goal for the Blades in the first period.

    While the games are usually hotly contested, the Raiders ultimately find ways to get things done claiming eight of the 10 encounters between the regular season and playoffs.

    It also shows why the Raiders were just that much better than the Blades in the regular season standings.

    Prince Albert finished first overall in the WHL with a 54-10-2-2 mark and was rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. Saskatoon was fourth overall with a 45-15-8 record and earned an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    One of the biggest target of Raiders fan heckles in the first two games of the series was Blades star centre Kirby Dach, who is expected to be a first round selection in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Blades fans cheer a goal from Kirby Dach.

    Dach played a spirited first period and put the Blades up 1-0 with a shock and awe highlight reel goal at the 8:56 mark of the opening frame. On an individual rush into the offensive zone, Dach at one point toe dragged the puck around a defenceman, cut across the front of the Raiders net and put a shot past Scott.

    Following his goal, Dach turned to a section of the crowd, where one spectator had a “Dach’s overrated” sign, and let them know about what happened with his celebration.

    At the 4:35 mark of the second with Saskatoon working on the power play, Blades centre Eric Florchuk found a loose puck in the crease of the Prince Albert goal during some frantic moments and popped the puck into the net to give the visitors a 2-0 edge.

Centre Dante Hannoun scored the equalizer for the Raiders.

    For much of the second period, the crowd at the Art Hauser Centre was silent.

    Blades star netminder Nolan Maier was shutting the door, and he made 29 stops on the night to take the setback in the Saskatoon net.

    In Game 1 on Friday, Maier was given a mercy pull with 12:56 remaining in the third period, when the Raiders held a 5-1 advantage. He stopped 31-of-36 shots sent his way but really couldn’t be faulted in the 6-1 win Prince Albert finished off.

    That set the stage for the big turning point, when Hayes scored with 28.2 seconds to play in the second. Hayes is normally a defensive defenceman, but he did manage to record three goals and 24 assists to go with his plus-71 rating appearing in all of the Raiders 68 regular season games.

Raiders fans cheer on one of their team’s goals.

    The Calgary, Alta., product’s tally at that point in the second was likely the biggest goal of his WHL career.

    Just 94 seconds into the third, Raiders star overage centre Dante Hannoun netted the equalizer and proceeded try and imitate Dach’s goal celebration.

    Just 37 seconds after that tally, Raiders overage centre Sean Montgomery fired home a rebound in front of Maier for a power-play goal that held up as the winning marker in the Raiders 3-2 triumph.

    It was also an all overagers goal for the Raiders as star centre Noah Gregor and Hannoun collected assists on the play.

    From that point, the game had some firewagon hockey with action up and down the ice mixed with times when the Raiders held ground locking things down defensively.

The Raiders celebrate their victory on Sunday.

    It all kept the fans on the edge of their seats until the final seconds in the third ticked away.

    While the Raiders have command of the series, the Blades aren’t dead either. The Blades are facing what is basically a must-win situation in Game 3, or this series might not return to “Hockey Town North.”

Saskatoon is facing a tough task needing to win four of the next five games of the series in order to pull it out.

    For the moment, they need to just focus on the moment and what they need to do to win Game 3 at home. That would be a first step to possibly making this series a longer one.

    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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