On a night where the power went out at SaskTel Centre for about a half-hour, the Prince Albert Raiders found some scoring power late for a come-from-behind 6-5 overtime triumph over the Saskatoon Blades Friday night.
For a second straight P-A road victory, 19-year-old forward Sloan Stanick notched the winning goal, this one on a rebound 49 seconds into the extra period. The Raiders trailed by 4-1 and 5-2 scores in the third period, but rallied to force O-T, then win a fifth straight game while delaying the Bridge City Bunch’s celebration of officially clinching a W-H-L Eastern Conference playoff spot. Their Magic Number to insure a spot in the post-season is one point. In the midst of the stunning end to the game was the weird delay to the start of the second period while power at SaskTel Centre was lost and the back-up generator came on, but not enough to resume play, leading to a 42-minute second intermission, most of it with the building in the dark. Jake Chiasson paced the Blue and Gold with two power play goals and an assist while Brandon Lisowsky, Vaughn Watterodt and Aidan De La Gorgendiere also tallied for the 37-13-5 Blades, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Rookie Prince Albert forward Aiden Oiring keyed the third period comeback from the 5-2 deficit, forcing overtime with 4:38 remaining in regulation time and assisting on two other goals by Landon Kosior and Niall Crocker. Hayden Pakkala scored short-handed while Ryder Ritchie joined Crocker and Kosior in scoring man advantage tallies for the 24-28-3 Raiders, now four points out of an Eastern Conference post-season berth. P-A was 3-for-8 on the power play while Saskatoon was 2-for-5 in the robust, but chippy contest in front of 5,188 fans at SaskTel Centre. The same teams meet Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert with CJWW’s broadcast beginning at 6:45 p.m. and the play-by-play at 7 o’clock. Following is the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L, the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast and Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Brennan Sonne and Chiasson…..
Prince Albert Raiders 6 (OT) at Saskatoon Blades 5 – Status: Final OT
Friday, February 24, 2023 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Prince Albert 1 0 4 1 – 6
Saskatoon 2 1 2 0 – 5
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Chiasson 16 (Keller, Elliott), 9:43 (PP). 2, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 28 (Sidorov, Shugrue), 14:10. 3, Prince Albert, Ritchie 16 (Kosior, Sorensen), 17:54 (PP). Penalties-Pakkala Pa (high sticking), 7:51; Goldsmith Pa (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 11:59; Martin Pa (major-fighting), 11:59; Pillar Sas (major-fighting), 11:59; Roulette Sas (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 11:59; Sidorov Sas (roughing), 11:59; Chiasson Sas (high sticking, high sticking), 15:17.
2nd Period-4, Saskatoon, Chiasson 17 (Roulette, Molendyk), 10:03 (PP). Penalties-Watterodt Sas (checking to the head), 2:09; Sorensen Pa (holding), 8:11; De La Gorgendiere Sas (slashing), 12:51; Kovacs Pa (high sticking), 18:25.
3rd Period-5, Saskatoon, Watterodt 18 (Chiasson, Wiens), 1:44. 6, Prince Albert, Pakkala 7 10:25 (SH). 7, Saskatoon, De La Gorgendiere 10 (Sidorov, Wong), 10:53. 8, Prince Albert, Kosior 17 (Oiring, Sorensen), 12:37 (PP). 9, Prince Albert, Crocker 13 (Oiring), 14:23 (PP). 10, Prince Albert, Oiring 11 (Ritchie), 15:22. Penalties-Dube Pa (high sticking), 2:33; Pillar Sas (boarding), 7:56; Sorensen Pa (roughing), 8:50; Saunderson Sas (tripping), 11:40; Watterodt Sas (high sticking), 14:00.
OT Period-11, Prince Albert, Stanick 19 (Kosior), 0:49. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Prince Albert 4-8-14-2-28. Saskatoon 10-10-9-0-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Prince Albert 3 / 8; Saskatoon 2 / 5.
Goalies-Prince Albert, Hildebrand 10-9-3-0 (29 shots-24 saves). Saskatoon, Elliott 20-5-3-0 (28 shots-22 saves).
A-5,188
Referees-Troy Murray (34), Bob Millette (61).
Linesmen-Levi Schutz (110), Devan Thiessen (94).
