Raiders Erase 2-0 Deficit to Win Game One in Saskatoon
March 28, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince Albert Raiders News Release
A three goal second period helped the Raiders win game one of their first round matchup with the Saskatoon Blades 4-3 on Thursday night at SaskTel Centre. Four different Raiders scored in the win, with two goals coming on the powerplay, while Max Hildebrand put in another stellar outing in goal with over 40 saves in his first career playoff win.
The first 19:40 of the first period was held scoreless, thanks in large part to Max Hildebrand, who made 14 saves in the opening 20 minutes. Early on, the netminder made a huge pad save on Egor Sidorov on a partial breakaway, and later robbed Grayden Siepmann with a great glove save on an odd man rush for the Blades. Justice Christensen prevented a goal in the opening 10 minutes, with a huge shot block on Trevor Wong, who would've had nearly the whole net to shoot at, had Christensen not gotten a skate on the shot.
However, Saskatoon opened the scoring with 20 seconds left on the clock, as they capitalized on their second powerplay of the opening period. With Eric Johnston in the box for interference, the Blades only needed 28 seconds of powerplay time to find the back of the net. After Aiden Oiring tried to clear the puck up the middle of the ice on the penalty kill, Tanner Molendyk held the puck in at the blue line. Molendyk then fed a pass to the right circle for Sidorov, who faked a one timer. Instead, the Blades forward stepped in and ripped a shot past Hildebrand, scoring the first goal of the 2024 WHL Playoffs.
The late goal from the Blades gave the home side a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, while they also led 15-5 in the shot department.
59 seconds into the second period, Alexander Suzdalev gave the Blades a 2-0 lead, using his strength to cut towards the goal. Shrugging off Oiring, Suzdalev made a strong move to the net, and buried a shot five hole past Hildebrand. Suzdalev took a high stick right in the face on the shot, which set the Blades up on a powerplay right after they doubled their lead. Fortunately for the Raiders, they were able to kill the penalty off and keep it a 2-0 game.
Prince Albert flipped the period around in their favour in the second half of the middle frame, as they scored three straight goals to take their first lead of the game. With 11:19 left in the second, Aiden Oiring scored the Raiders' first goal of the playoffs. Taking a pass in the right wing, Oiring let a long range shot go that fooled Austin Elliott, who missed the puck with his glove as he tried to reach across his body. Oiring's marker made it a 2-1 game.
2:12 later, the Raiders tied things up, as Easton Kovacs beat Elliott. From the left wall, the defenceman let a shot go that deflected off a Blade right in front of the crease, which caused the shot to redirect past Elliott and into the back of the net. The fortunate bounce tied the game for Prince Albert, as they came back to make it a 2-2 tie.
They weren't done there, either, as a powerplay goal with 5:41 left in the second gave the team their first lead of the series. After a shot from Sloan Stanick was blocked in the high slot, the puck bounced right onto Ryder Ritchie's stick in the left circle. Wasted no time, Ritchie fired a bullet on goal that beat Elliott on the blocker side. His first career playoff goal gave the Raiders a 3-2 lead, which they would take into the third period.
Another powerplay goal 8:13 into the third period gave the Raiders a two goal lead, as Niall Crocker buried his first goal of the playoffs. After a sharp angle shot from Ritchie near the goal line was stopped by Elliott, Crocker batted the rebound out of midair, making it a 4-2 game in favour of Prince Albert.
With the goalie pulled, the Blades brought the game back to within one goal, as Sidorov scored his second of the night. Sidorov was given all kinds of room to shoot, and he sniped a shot top shelf over Hildebrand, making it a 4-3 game.
The Raiders were able to hold on from there, however, as no more pucks went past Hildebrand, as he stopped 41 of 44 shots to guide Prince Albert to a 1-0 series lead with a 4-3 win.
It's a short rest for both teams, as the Raiders and Blades clash for game two tomorrow night at SaskTel Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.
Western Hockey League Stories from March 28, 2024
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