Resilience allowed the Saskatoon Blades to come-from-behind and double up the Raiders 4-2 Friday in a W-H-L pre-season game between the East Division arch-rivals in Prince Albert.
The Bridge City Bunch were out-shooting P-A by a better than two-to-one margin, with the help of a pair of 5-on-3 power play opportunities, through the first 15 minutes of the game, but were scoreless with the Raiders thanks to the play of recently-acquired 17-year-old goaltender Ronin Geraghty. Prince Albert took advantage of Geraghty’s heroics, with Eric Pearce and Keaton Sorenson scoring twice in 42 seconds for a 2-0 lead before the end of the opening frame. However, the Blue and Gold regrouped and restored their game, and found a way to put pucks past Geraghty. Pasha Bocharov and Brandon Lisowsky evened the count in the second period, setting the stage for Brendan Lee to score the game-winning goal on a pretty individual effort in the Raiders’ zone early in the third stanza. Kyle Crnkovic added insurance into an empty in the final 30 seconds as the Blades improved to 2-1-0 in the pre-season while P-A dropped to 1-2-0. Crnkovic added two assists and Lee had a helper as well. Saskatoon out-shot the Raiders 33-20. The same teams meet Saturday evening at 7 o’clock at The Legends Centre in Warman. Following are Les Lazaruk interviews with Blades’ head coach Brennan Sonne, Lee and Bocharov, as well as the game summary, courtesy the W-H-L…..
Saskatoon Blades 4 at Prince Albert Raiders 2 – Status: Final
Friday, September 24, 2021 – Art Hauser Centre – Prince Albert, SK
Saskatoon 0 2 2 – 4
Prince Albert 2 0 0 – 2
1st Period-1, Prince Albert, Pearce 2 (Herman, Fouquette), 17:34 (PP). 2, Prince Albert, Sorensen 1 (Horon, Peekeekoot), 18:16. Penalties-Gislason Pa (elbowing), 1:55; Pearce Pa (hooking), 2:41; Wright Sas (interference), 4:36; Aquilon Pa (interference), 10:13; Pearce Pa (high sticking), 10:56; Bocharov Sas (tripping), 16:59.
2nd Period-3, Saskatoon, Bocharov 1 (Elias, Crnkovic), 1:06. 4, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 2 (Lee), 19:12. Penalties-Streek Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 0:00; Herman Pa (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 0:00; Lee Sas (roughing), 4:43; Aquilon Pa (roughing), 4:43; Lee Sas (tripping), 10:58.
3rd Period-5, Saskatoon, Lee 3 (Crnkovic), 3:39. 6, Saskatoon, Crnkovic 1 (Wiens), 19:33 (EN). Penalties-Warkentine Pa (interference), 19:49.
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 16-9-8-33. Prince Albert 10-5-5-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 7; Prince Albert 1 / 5.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Maier 1-0-0-0 (20 shots-18 saves). Prince Albert, Geraghty 0-2-0-0 (32 shots-29 saves).
A-
Referees-Fraser Lawrence (10), Ty Skene.
Linesmen-Riley Carriere (72), Aidan Penner.
