Raiders rally around Bilous in shutout win over Blades

Boston Bilous makes one of his 26 saves in goal for the Raiders.

    Boston Bilous cemented his first shutout with the Prince Albert Raiders with two big exclamation points.

    On Saturday in a WHL regular season contest played before 6,221 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, Bilous’s Raiders were holding a slim 1-0 lead over the host Saskatoon Blades, and the hosts had a power play for the final 75 seconds of the third period after a tripping penalty was assessed to Raiders left-winger Justin Nachbaur.

    With just under a minute to play, Bilous robbed Blades agitator type forward Riley McKay at the right side of the Prince Albert net.

 

Boston Bilous (#35) is embraces by Justin Nachbaur.

  After the Raiders cleared the puck, the Blades had one last rush into the offensive zone by 17-year-old left-winger Kyle Crnkovic. Crnkovic crossed the blue-line to enter the Raiders zone wired a shot that appeared tabbed for the top right corner of the Prince Albert goal.

    Bilous made a glove save and the third period buzzer went right after the puck was secured in his mitt. That final stop was the 18-year-old’s 26^th save of the contest and it preserved a 1-0 victory for the Raiders.

    “Those saves are big, but I mean our team blocks (shots) too,” said Bilous, whose team improved to 1-0-1. “That game could have been tied up if my teammates weren’t blocking shots for me.

    “I’m fortunate to make saves on breakaways and come up with a few.”

    Saturday’s game concluded a regular season opening home-and-home series between the two clubs. 
    The Blades took the first meeting claiming a 3-2 overtime victory on Friday in Prince Albert.

Blades goalie Nolan Maier stops Cole Fonstad (#24) of the Raiders

    Before Friday’s clash, the Raiders, who are the defending WHL champions, unveiled the four championship banners they won last season banners for finishing first in the East Division, first in the WHL regular season standings, winning the WHL Eastern Conference title and the WHL crown last season.

    The Blades, who are rated third in the CHL’s pre-season Top 10 rankings, spoiled the party escaping the Art Hauser Centre on Friday with a win, so Bilous was pleased his club could return the favour on Saturday in Saskatoon.

Kyle Crnkovic (#16) fires a last ditch shot on goal for the Blades.

    “It was definitely a sour taste losing with all those ceremonies and our home opener,” said Bilous, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 182 pounds. “It is how you respond.

    “It is their home opener, and we were looking to do the same to them.”

    Bilous and Blades netminder Nolan Maier stole the show on Saturday over the opening 40 minutes of the contest making 20 saves each.

    Bilous’s best stop over that period of time came in the second period when he stoned Blades right-winger Cyle McNabb from point blank range after McNabb received a smart set up pass from Colton Dach.

Cole Fonstad scored the only goal of Saturday’s game.

    In the final seconds of the second, Maier made a key right pad kick save on Nachbaur.

Early in the third period, Bilous made a blocker stop on McKay off a breakaway opportunity.

    Maier countered making key stops on Raiders centres Cole Nagy and Ilya Usau.

    With 7:58 remaining in the third, the Raiders broke through with the only goal of the contest. Import centre Aliaksei Protas got the puck to star left-winger Cole Fonstad.

    From near the left faceoff dot in the Saskatoon zone, Fonstad roofed home a shot to the top right corner of the Blades net that ultimately gave his side a 1-0 win.

    “It was great play by Alex (Protas) stopping up and messing with the D-man’s gap there,” said Fonstad. “I just try to pick up speed and get wide and he found me with a great pass.

The Raiders celebrate a goal from Cole Fonstad (#24).

    “I tried to get it off as quick as I could. It was good to step up. I’m an older guy now, and that is my job.

    “I didn’t like my first period or so. Then I thought we started clicking more as the game got on and started getting faster and picking up the pace more. We just have to keep getting better every game.”

    After Fonstad’s goal, Maier made key stops on Raiders left-winger Eric Pearce and turned away right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt.

    Those stops set the stage for Bilous to make his two key stops inside of the final minute of the third period to cement the Raiders win.

    Maier turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades (1-1).

    “It could have gone either way really a 1-0 game,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “We make a shot, and it goes in.

    “If that shot goes wide and they make a shot, it could have went the other way. Both were good games. It could have gone either way both nights.”

Raiders D Nolan Allan, left, and Blades C Colton Dach exchange words.

    While Saturday’s win marked the first time Bilous earned a shutout for the Raiders, it was the second shutout of his WHL career. Bilous’s first shutout came when he was still a member of the Edmonton Oil Kings back on Sept. 28, 2018.

    That night, Bilous made 15 saves as the Oil Kings blanked the visiting Swift Current Broncos 5-0 at Rogers Place.

    The Raiders acquired the Bilous in a deal right before the WHL trade deadline last season on Jan. 10. He backed up star netminder Ian Scott, who is now playing in the system of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.

    “He (Bilous) was a big part of our team last year,” said Habscheid. “We talked about that all the time.

    “We had (defenceman Loeden) Schaufler, who didn’t play a lot. Those guys were really important keys to our team, because they always kept the guys up. They never complained.

Blades RW Riley McKay, left, is checked by Raiders D Max Martin.

    “They always were team first, and they deserve as much of part of that trophy last year as anyone.”

    Habscheid said he could see the Raiders skaters were pushing to get the shutout for Bilous on Saturday.

    “Boston (Bilous) gets his chance, and because he was such a good teammate, you can just tell in the room guys pull for him,” said Habscheid. “They want to play in front of him.

    “They want to do what they can to help him out, and when you are a goaltender, that is half the battle. He is real popular with this team. He is a real good person, and guys want to win for him.

Aliaksei Protas (#21) had the assist on the lone goal of Saturday’s game.

    “He got the shutout so kudos to him.”

    Fonstad said it was special to see Bilous get the shutout.

    “Last year, he was just such a good teammate,” said Fonstad. “He didn’t play much, but he was always a guy talking and just motivating guys.

    “He didn’t say a peep, when he wasn’t playing. We knew this year he was going to have a big year. He worked hard in the summer, and came back in great shape, confident, and it is paying off for him.

    “We are happy for him. Those are the guys you want to play for. He does all the right things, so you always want to give your extra for him.”

Scott Walford jets up ice for the Blades.

    Bilous said all his teammates contributed to helping him post a shutout.

    “Shutouts in my opinion are a result of how your team plays,” said Bilous. “Obviously, you’re going to make saves in a shutout.

    “If I don’t have my teammates, I don’t get a shutout.”

    With the regular season opening home-and-home series in the books, the Blades return to action this coming Friday when they host the Winnipeg Ice at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Raiders also get back at it this coming Friday when they travel to Regina to take on the Pats.

    When the Blades and Raiders meet again, Habscheid expects the action on the ice to be much different on the ice. 

The Raiders celebrate their win on Saturday night.

    The veteran bench boss both clubs are still going through bumps of transitioning their rosters from last season to this season.
    Both teams are dealing with a shuffled deck from when the Raiders topped the WHL standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and the Blades finished fourth overall in the league with a 45-15-8 mark in 2018-19.

    “It is so early,” said Habscheid. “I’m old and grey as you can see.

    “It is a long ways to go. We have a lot of turnover, but we have some veterans too. I just like the way our moxy was.

    “We are defending champions, and we expect our guys to play a certain way and to carry that mantle. That trophy is ours until somebody takes it away from us, and that has kind of been our line of thinking so far and that will continue on.”

Golden Bears sink Huskies on last minute field goal

Adam Machart (#20) had 180 yards rushing for the Huskies on Saturday.

    Kicker Jonathan Giustini came up clutch for the University of Alberta Golden Bears, and it spelled doom for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

    With 46 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Giustini nailed a 45-yard field goal to give the Golden Bears a 19-17 victory over the Huskies in a U Sports regular season game on Saturday in Edmonton.

    The Huskies built a 10-8 lead at halftime in a bit of a back-and-forth match on a one-yard touchdown run from running back Adam Machart and a 37 yard field goal from kicker David Solie.

    The Golden Bears replied with field goals from Giustini from 39 and 13 yards out. He had a single from a single from a missed field goal from 17 yards out. Kickoff specialist Brent Arthur had a single off a kickoff.

    In the third quarter, the Golden Bears jumped ahead 15-10 when quarterback Brad Launhardt hit running back Jonathan Rosery on a 43-yard touchdown pass.

    Before the third quarter came to an end, Giustini extended the host side’s edge to 16-10 with a single from a 30 yard missed field goal.

    With 8:52 remaining in the fourth quarter, Huskies quarterback Ethan Watson connected with star utility player Colton Klassen on a 15-yard touchdown pass to put the visitors up 17-16.

    That set the stage for Giustini to come through at the end.

Ethan Watson made his first U Sports start at QB on Saturday.

    Watson started in place of Mason Nyhus. Nyhus left the third quarter with an injury in the Huskies 44-9 romp over the University of Regina Rams on Sept. 13 in “the Queen City.”

    He is going through concussion protocol, and the Huskies sat him out as a precaution for the clash with the Golden Bears.

    Watson, who making his first career U Sports start, completed 17-of-32 passes for 134 yards, one touchdown and one interception on Saturday. Machart ran the ball 18 times for 180 yards to go with his one touchdown.

    Launhardt completed 21-of-38 passes for 330 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Rosery carried the ball 14 times for 73 yards and caught four passes for 78 yards.

    Receiver Ben Kopczynski caught eight passes for 141 yards for the Golden Bears.

    Defensive end Nicholas Dheilly had a pair of sacks for the Huskies, while defensive back Nelson Lokombo had an interception.

    Linebacker Jassen Brown had a sack and an interception for the Golden Bears. Josiah Schakel, Shaydon Philip and Riley Szsfranski all had sacks for U of A.

    The Huskies fell to 2-2 with the setback, while the Golden Bears have won three straight to improve to 3-1.

    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday when they host the University of Calgary Dinos (4-0) at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.

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

-------

    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.