The Prince Albert Raiders finished the 2023 W-H-L pre-season without a blemish on their record after out-lasting the Saskatoon Blades 4-3 Saturday night in Warman.
Sloan Stanick scored the shootout winner after P-A goaltender Max Hildebrand made the lone save of the three-round penalty shot event off Spencer Shugrue just before that. Aiden Oiring and Ryder Ritchie also scored for the Raiders in the shootout on Blades’ goaltender Evan Gardiner while Trevor Wong and Jordan Keller scored in the shootout for the Blades. During the 65 minutes of play, the Raiders out-shot the Bridge City Bunch 38-30. Jayden Wiens led the Blue and Gold with two goals while Lukas Hansen added the other. Stanick, Aiden Oiring and Oli Chenier tallied for Prince Albert, who dressed 14 regulars from last season and had an average age of 18 years old on their 20-man roster for the game. They were without 20-year-old goaltender Chase Coward (Minnesota) and defenceman Terrell Goldsmith (Arizona) at NHL rookie camps. The Blades, who finished 1-2-1 in the pre-season, dressed 11 regulars from last season and had an average age of 17.75 years old on their 20-man roster. Saskatoon is without six players at NHL rookie camps – goaltender Austin Elliott (Nashville), defencemen Tanner Molendyk (Nashville) and Charlie Wright (Carolina) plus forwards Egor Sidorov (Anaheim), Brandon Lisowsky (Toronto) and Jake Chiasson (Edmonton). Next up is the regular-season for both teams. The Blades start Saturday in Regina and return home Sunday for their home opener against the Raiders. P-A starts at home Friday against Moose Jaw. Following is the official game summary, courtesy the WHL, plus post-game comments from the head coaches – Brennan Sonne of Saskatoon and Jeff Truitt of the Raiders…..
Prince Albert Raiders 4 (SO) at Saskatoon Blades 3 – Status: Final SO
Saturday, September 16, 2023 – Warman, SK
Prince Albert 2 1 0 0 – 4
Saskatoon 2 1 0 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Prince Albert, Stanick 1 0:14. 2, Prince Albert, Oiring 1 (Ritchie), 10:11. 3, Saskatoon, Hansen 1 (Leonard), 12:00. 4, Saskatoon, Wiens 1 (Wong, Keller), 14:25 (PP). Penalties-Anderson Pa (roughing), 0:31; Kovacs Pa (checking from behind), 2:46; Moore Sas (boarding), 6:22; Pakkala Pa (tripping), 13:42.
2nd Period-5, Saskatoon, Wiens 2 12:04. 6, Prince Albert, Chenier 1 (Moroz), 18:34. Penalties-Chenier Pa (roughing), 7:54; Oiring Pa (roughing), 16:11; Tastad Sas (tripping, roughing), 16:11; Pakkala Pa (roughing), 20:00; Leonard Sas (roughing), 20:00; Wong Sas (roughing), 20:00.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Pakkala Pa (checking to the head), 6:16.
OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Boucher Pa (tripping), 2:20.
Shootout – Prince Albert 3 (Oiring G, Ritchie G, Stanick G), Saskatoon 2 (Wong G, Keller G, Shugrue NG).
Shots on Goal-Prince Albert 11-11-13-3-1-39. Saskatoon 12-9-3-6-0-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Prince Albert 0 / 3; Saskatoon 1 / 6.
Goalies-Prince Albert, Hildebrand 2-0-0-0 (30 shots-27 saves). Saskatoon, Gardner 1-0-0-1 (38 shots-35 saves).
A-1,100
Referees-Adam Forbes (62), Brayden Glynn (96).
Linesmen-Tanner McGregor (55).
