Saturday 28 December 2019

Blades continue to hold hex over Raiders

Saskatoon claims 6-3 victory for fourth straight win versus P.A.

The Blades celebrate a empty-net goal from Kyle Crnkovic, centre.
    It might have looked pretty and then not looked pretty, but the Saskatoon Blades still found a way to keep a hex hanging over the Prince Albert Raiders.
    On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades jumped out to a 5-0 lead at one point in the second period only to have the Raiders cut the gap to 5-3 going into the second intermission.
    While the defending WHL champion Raiders pressed in the third, they weren’t able to get any closer on the scoreboard.
    Blades 17-year-old sophomore left-winger Kyle Crnkovic tipped home a shot from linemate Tristen Robins into an empty net to seal a 6-3 victory for the host side before 3,868 spectators.
    In six head-to-head encounters between the two sides, the Blades have won five of those contests. 
    Saturday’s game finished a stretch where the two clubs played each other three straight times, and the Blades took every single one of those encounters. The Blades have won their last four straight games against the Raiders.
Scott Walford had two goals and an assist for the Blades.
    “I think it is just that we’ve come out and really embraced the rivalry,” said Blades overage defenceman Scott Walford, who had two goals and an assist in the win. “I think it is something we have to do maybe against other teams.
    “We just have to bring that intensity to every game. They are at the top of our division for a reason. They are a fast team.
    “They are a hard team to play against. They are well coached. I think it is big for us to really take that into the next games, and we can show what kind of team we have.”
    The game got off to a big start for the host side when Blades 18-year-old sophomore defenceman Matthew Sanders fired home a shot from the point at the 1:50 mark of the opening frame to give Saskatoon a 1-0 lead. Sanders’ tally was his first goal of his WHL career and came on the Blades’ first shot of the game.
Ilya Usau had two goals and an assist for the Raiders.
    Captain Chase Wouters scored at the six-minute mark and Walford potted his first of the night at the 7:13 mark of the opening frame to give the Blades a 3-0 edge.
    The tallies by Wouters and Walford came on the same power play after Raiders right-winger Jacob Brook was given a major penalty for hitting Blades overage defenceman Nolan Kneen from behind.
    The infraction against Brook will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.
    After Walford gave the Blades a 3-0 edge, the Raiders pulled starting netminder Carter Serhyenko, who stopped one of four shots sent his way.
    Boston Bilous played the rest of the way for the Raiders turning away 14-of-16 shots fired in his direction.
Blades captain Chase Wouters (#44) screens Raiders goalie Carter Serhyenko.
    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said Serhyenko, who is from Saskatoon, had an off night.
    “This is his hometown,” said Habscheid. “(Serhyenko has been) really good and consistent for us.
    “Really, this is his first game where he had a tough night. He’s a young guy (and) whatever experience good or bad is good for him. I felt bad for him as he’s been consistent for us.
    “He just had a tough one.”
    At the start of the second, it appeared a route would be on. Walford netted his second of the contest just 35 seconds into the frame, and 16-year-old right-winger Colton Dach tallied at the 4:32 mark of the stanza to put the Blades up 5-0.
Matthew Sanders scored his first career WHL goal on Saturday.
    The Raiders called a timeout after the Blades fifth goal in order to regroup.
    “No matter what, to get goals scored on you that quickly puts you on your heels (and) that’s what happened to us,” said Habscheid. “I want guys to keep their composure, but it’s tough.
    “Young guys, once they gathered and collected themselves we were pretty good.”
    Raiders 18-year-old rookie left-winger Ilya Usau stopped the bleeding scoring at the 10:34 mark of the second to cut the Blades lead to 5-1.
    Usau potted his second of the contest with 1:23 remaining in the second, and Raiders Belarusian import centre Aliaksei Protas netted his 20th goal of the campaign just 33 seconds later to trim the Blades lead to 5-3. Usau picked up an assist on Protas’s goal.
Nolan Maier made 35 saves in goal for the Blades on Saturday.
    Blades associate coach Ryan Marsh said his club focused on regrouping in the second intermission noting they still led the contest.
    “We just had to get back to our game,” said Marsh. “I thought that we were a little bit careless with our puck management a little bit.
    “A credit to them. They really stepped their game up and started to push hard and had some good extended O-zone play and put us into some bad spots. I thought our competitiveness in the D-zone was a little bit lackadaisical.
    “You get up, and you start to cheat a little bit on offence. Our details weren’t great there, and they stepped their game up. We were able to come in after the second and regroup, and I thought we had a pretty good third period.”
    The Raiders outshot the Blades 17-5 in the third, but couldn’t get anything past Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.
The Blades fans enjoy their team’s victory on Saturday.
    Maier made 35 saves to pick up the win. He has played in all of the Blades encounters with the Raiders this season and has stopped 170-of-180 shots fired his way in those games.
    The effort by the Yorkton, Sask., product allowed the Blades to lock away the game with Crnkovic’s empty-net goal.
    “Nolan (Maier) is a phenomenal goalie, and any time that he has a great game we normally win,” said Walford. “I think he had another stellar performance tonight.
    “I don’t think we were as god as we could have been in front of him at times. That is something that we are going to have to go back to the drawing board on.”
    Going forward, Walford would like to see his club explode offensively again like they did on Saturday. The Coquitlam, B.C., product said the key for his squad is to not over think things in the offensive zone.
The Blades celebrate their win on Saturday.
    “Every time that we have success offensively, normally, we keep it pretty simple,” said Walford. “It is when we are forcing things that we don’t get our offence.
    “A lot of plays start in our own end, and it is just simple chip out of the zone. Guys come through, pick it up and make another chip. Somehow, we get an offensive zone possession.
    “We work it around, and that is our team. If we can keep it simple and get it in and make plays when we have time that is how we score.”
    The Blades improved to 17-15-1-2 with the win, while the Raiders fell to 20-11-3-1.
    The Raiders return to action on Monday, when they host the Winnipeg Ice (21-13-1) at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. Prince Albert sits first in the WHL’s East Division one point ahead of Winnipeg, so Monday’s clash looms as a big one.
    The Blades are back at it on Wednesday, when they host the Ice on New Year’s Day on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Blades’ Huber issued two-game suspension for head hit

Blades RW Zach Huber was suspended by the WHL on Saturday.
    The Saskatoon Blades were without 19-year-old right-winger Zach Huber on Saturday due to a suspension imposed by the WHL office for supplemental discipline.
    Huber received a two game suspension for delivering a head hit to Prince Albert Raiders star left-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt with 2:19 remaining in the third period of a regular season game won 3-2 by the Blades on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
    Huber was given a minor penalty for checking to the head at the time of the infraction.
    On the play, Wiesblatt toe dragged around a Raiders defenceman and wired a shot on goal that was stopped by Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.
    After shooting the puck, Wiesblatt was drilled with a high hit from Huber. Wiesblatt went down on the play, but left the ice under his own power.
    He came out for the second shift of the ensuing Raiders power play and finished the game.
Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid made his feelings noted about the hit following Friday’s game.
    “We’ll let the league deal with that, but that was a dangerous hit,” said Habscheid. “We’re trying to protect the players.
    “The head was targeted, and we will see what the league says about it.”
    The Raiders appealed to the league office following the contest for the play to be looked at.
    Huber will conclude his suspension missing the Blades upcoming game on Wednesday at 2 p.m. on New Year’s Day against the Winnipeg Ice.

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