Blades rebound from letdown with 3-1 win over Raiders

Blades centre Josh Pillar, left, dishes a pass after taking a hit.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Saskatoon Blades made certain a nine minute letdown became a distant memory.

On Saturday, the Blades jetted out to a 3-0 first period lead, maintained that edge to the end of the second period and held on for a 3-1 victory over the host Prince Albert Raiders before standing room crowd 2,676 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The win was a big bounce back for the Blades after they dropped a 6-5 decision in overtime one night earlier against the Raiders at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon to start a home-and-home series between the two sides.

In Friday’s clash in Saskatoon, the Blades had a 5-2 lead over the Raiders with eight minutes remaining in the third. The Raiders rallied back with three straight goals in regulation and star left-winger Sloan Stanick potting the winner 49 seconds into overtime.

Jayden Wiens scored the Blades first goal on Saturday.

The Blades win on Saturday halted the Raiders winning streak at five games. Saskatoon improved to 38-13-4-1, while Prince Albert fell to 24-29-3.

“Yesterday was probably if not the biggest disappointment, it was one of the biggest disappointments of the season,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne. “We’ve had games where we weren’t ourselves or didn’t play hard or things like that.

“We hadn’t experienced what we did last night. To come in and play the exact same team, we put ourselves in the exact same situation and to handle it the way we did like you just watched us learn a lesson and grow as a team, which is exactly what championship teams do.”

The Blades celebrate a first period goal from Brandon Lisowsky (#8).

While the Raiders came out on the wrong head of the scoreboard on Saturday, head coach Jeff Truitt liked how his team competed in that contest.

He said the fact the Blades ultimately converted on two-of-three power-play chances, while the Raiders were 0-for-4 on the power play had a big impact on the final outcome. The shots on goal for the contest finished even at 25-25.

“I thought the difference was their power play versus our penalty kill tonight,” said Truitt. “(On their) three goals, two of them were power-play goals.

“One was a four on four. You take a look at the halfway mark of the first period I thought that we competed. I thought that we might not have had a tonne a quality chances, but we weren’t chasing the game at that point in time.

Brandon Lisowsky had a goal and an assist for the Blades.

“Then we get into penalty trouble and that is momentum. At the end of the day, that is the difference.”

The Blades entered Saturday’s game knowing they had officially clinched a berth in the WHL Playoffs. The playoff berth clinch happened earlier in the day when the Lethbridge Hurricanes downed the Hitmen in Calgary 4-3 in regulation.

If the WHL Playoffs started after Saturday’s action was complete, the Blades would be the third seed in the Eastern Conference in the first round.

The Raiders, who are 11^th overall in the Eastern Conference, are still four points back of a playoff berth. They trail the Hitmen (24-26-5-2) and the Swift Current Broncos (26-27-1-2) who are tied for the eighth and ninth positions in the Eastern Conference with 55 standings points. The Broncos blanked the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors 4-0 on Saturday.

Jake Chiasson scored the Blades third goal on Saturday.

As for Saturday’s clash between the Blades and Raiders, the teams came out to an unexpected feeling out start as shots on goal were tied 1-1 after six minutes of play. At that point, the Blades power play kicked into gear.

Just eight seconds in their first chance with the man advantage, Blades star right-winger Brandon Lisowsky had the puck by the right side boards in the Prince Albert zone, and he slid a pass across the face of the Raiders net to linemate Jayden Wiens. Wiens converted a backdoor tap to give the visitors a 1-0 edge at the 11:23 mark of the frame.

Just a little over two minutes and 30 seconds later during four-versus-four action, Lisowsky blasted home a mid range shot from the front of the Prince Albert goal to put the Blades up 2-0. Lisowsky said it is always easy for his squad to get up for game at the Art Hauser Centre

Ryder Ritchie scored the Raiders lone goal on Saturday.

“The (Raiders) fans kind of get into it,” said Lisowsky. “It is kind of a rocking barn when things get going, so it is something that kind of fuels the team and kind of fuels me personally.

“I kind of want to make a difference and kind of score. It feels good to score in this barn.”

With 1:39 remaining in the opening frame, the Blades struck again on the power play to extend their advantage to 3-0. Blades overage star centre Josh Pillar had the puck by the left side boards and passed it into the doorstep of the left side of the Saskatoon goal to left-winger Jake Chiasson. Chaisson did a half spin move and tucked home his 18^th of the season to give the visitors their three-goal edge.

Ethan Chadwick makes one of his 24 saves on Saturday.

Just 34 seconds later, Chiasson was crushed into the left boards on the blue-line by Raiders defenceman Justice Christensen. Chiasson stayed down on the play and had to be helped off. He didn’t return to the contest.

The Blades exited the opening frame with an 8-6 edge in shots on goal. The two sides played through a scoreless second period that included a number of scoring chances with the Blades holding a 13-12 edge in shots on goal in that stanza.

Truitt liked his team’s mental toughness, and thought his Raiders missed out on making gains in the second.

“When we get opportunities off the rush, we have to be able to make chances count,” said Truitt. “You can’t miss nets.

Terrell Goldsmith controls the puck at the point for the Raiders.

“I thought we missed a lot of nets tonight. We had point blankers, and we missed the net. We just didn’t make him (Blades netminder Ethan Chadwick) make as many saves as we wanted to.”

Just 1:28 into the third, the Raiders got on the board when star 16-year-old rookie right-winger Ryder Ritchie blasted home his 17^th goal of the season from the left side of the Saskatoon net to cut the Blades lead to 3-1. The Raiders weren’t able to get any closer on the scoreboard, but Truitt said it wasn’t from a lack of effort.

“We go shift by shift after something like that happens,” said Truitt. “We’re going to continue to battle and continue to do what we need to be.

“You have to take chances every once in a while. In the third period, we open things up. We got a goal, and we kept the pressure on, and I thought we did a good job that way in the third period.”

Defenceman Blake Gustafson navigates the offensive zone.

Max Hildebrand turned away 22 shots to take the setback for the Raiders. Chadwick stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades.

Looking back on the win, Lisowsky said his team’s penalty kill played in creating a positive outcome for the visitors.

“I thought every time we took a penalty we just reset,” said Lisowsky. “Our penalty kill was probably the best it has been in the second half.

“I think we had unbelievable penalty kill guys laying out and blocking shots and doing all the good things. I think we just talked about it. Our bench was positive, and we just reset every shift keeping those positive vibes going.”

Raiders captain Evan Herman circles low in the offensive zone.

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they host the Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). 

That contest will be the Raiders “This Girl Can” night. Stock car driver and Prince Albert product Shantel Kalika will be giving a girls’ empowerment speech as part of a special pre-game function.

The Blades get back it on Wednesday when they host the Rebels (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre). With having clinched a playoff berth, Lisowsky said his squad is aiming to finish as high up in the standings as possible.

“Now, we are just battling for a better seed,” said Lisowsky. “I think that is the mindset going forward.

Jordan Keller jets up ice for the Blades.

“I think today was a good start. We have to play like we did today throughout the whole month of March.”

Truitt said his players just have to regroup when they get up in the morning on Sunday.

“You take a look at the scoreboard tonight there is not a lot of room for error left,” said Truitt. “We’re ticking down on games here.

“Some teams that we are chasing are winning tonight and some are losing. We have to concentrate again keeping our work ethic right where it needs to be. Right from here to game 68, we’re not going to slow down for anything.

“We will give ourselves the best chance to get there.”

The Blades begin to celebrate their win on Saturday.

NOTES – The Raiders were without 19-year-old import netminder Tikhon Chaika for a second straight game as he is day-to-day with a lower body injury. Chaika last played this past Monday, when the Raiders slipped past the Wheat Kings in Brandon 4-3 in overtime. He made 30 saves in that contest. Cooper Anderson, who is a 15-year-old associate player call up from South Island Royals under-17 AAA team in Victoria, B.C., dressed as the Raider backup the past two contests. Anderson was selected by the Raiders in the 10^th round and 208^th overall in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.

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