WHL Prince Albert Raiders

Raiders Fall to Blades on Last Second Game Winning Goal

Published on September 25, 2022 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince Albert Raiders News Release


The Prince Albert Raiders saw an extra point slip away in overtime, as they fell 2-1 to the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday night at SaskTel Centre. Tyler Parr scored the game winning goal at the 4:59 mark of the extra frame, giving Saskatoon a full four points in the home and home series with the Raiders, and leaving Prince Albert with just a single point in two games.

Just like Friday night, the Blades opened the scoring in the first period, although it took a little longer to find the icebreaker. Lukas Hansen was the beneficiary of a Tanner Molendyk feed near the net, and the former threw a shot on goal that found its way past Max Hildebrand. A brief conversation between Evan Herman and an official after the goal about the possibility of goalie interference after Vaughn Watterodt bumped into the Raider goaltender was sorted out quickly, as the call on the ice of a goal stood. With 6:12 remaining in the opening frame, Saskatoon jumped out to a 1-0 lead.

The Raiders tied things up on their third powerplay of the game with 1:56 to go in the first. A point shot from Trevor Thurston was neatly tipped home in front by Hayden Pakkala, who picked up his first goal of the period. The primary assist went to Thurston, but 16-year-old rookie Ryder Ritchie picked up his first career WHL point, picking up a secondary assist on the game's tying goal.

After one period, both clubs went to the dressing room knotted up at 1-1, with the Blades holding an 8-5 edge in shots. The lone Raider penalty of the first went to Trevor Thurston, who prevented a glorious scoring chance by tripping up a Blades forward on a breakaway. The Raiders killed that penalty off, and went 1/3 on their own powerplays in the opening frame.

While there was no scoring in the second period, it wasn't for a lack of effort from both sides. The best scoring chance in the middle frame came on a Blades powerplay with just over a minute left in the frame. Tyler Parr wired a shot high that hit the post and came loose near the goal mouth before it was cleared away by Raider defenders.

Penalties were the theme of the second period, as seven were handed out between each team, which included both clubs seeing brief 5 on 3 man advantages. Tanner Molendyk was handed a five minute major and a game misconduct for a slu foot, but the Raiders could not take advantage of the long powerplay.

The third period continued to be a back and forth battle, but again, no goals were to be found. The most important part of the game came with 2:53 left in the third period, when Justin Lies was handed a five minute major and a game misconduct for charging. The Raiders couldn't score the game winning goal in that powerplay time in the remainder of regulation, as the powerplay time carried as the game went to overtime still searching for a winner in a 1-1 deadlock.

The Raiders controlled the first half of overtime on the 4 on 3 man advantage, but still couldn't find the winning goal. There was a lot of puck movement, but not many shots on goal on the powerplay, as the penalty eventually expired and both teams transitioned to 3 on 3 action.

When the game seemed like it was going to head to a shootout, the Blades created a two on one rush in the dying seconds of overtime. Brandon Lisowsky fired a shot on goal with just a couple of seconds left that Hildebrand kicked aside, but the rebound came right into the slot for a waiting Tyler Parr. Parr fired the rebound in with less than a second left in overtime to give the Blades a 2-1 win, and a full four points over the weekend.

With the overtime loss, the Raiders collected their first point of the season, as their record fell to 0-1-1-0 on the season, while the Blades moved to 2-0-0-0. Hildebrand made 14 saves on 16 shots in the loss for Prince Albert, while Austin Elliott turned aside 24 of 25 Raider shots in the win.

Next up for the Raiders is a Wednesday night contest when the Winnipeg ICE come to the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop is 7pm.

Check out the Prince Albert Raiders Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Western Hockey League Stories from September 25, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central