The Saskatoon Blades find themselves atop the East Division and Eastern Conference standings following the fourth weekend of W-H-L regular-season play after the Bridge City Bunch out-lasted the Raiders 3-2 in a shootout Sunday night in Prince Albert.

Easton Armstrong (pictured), notched the winning goal in the fifth round of the penalty shot competition as the Blue and Gold recorded their fifth consecutive victory and upped their record to 7-2-0 in front of 2,163 fans at the Art Hauser Centre. Despite playing their third game in three nights, the Raiders gave the Blades all they could handle, thanks to goaltender Chase Coward in the first period and opportunistic scoring to knot the tally twice, forcing overtime and the shootout. Saskatoon held a 17-3 shots on goal in the first period, but the game was scoreless after 20 minutes. Egor Sidorov’s second period power play goal was matched by a Ryder Ritchie tally for P-A. Trevor Wong gave the Bridge City Bunch another lead, heading to the the period with a man advantage marker. But, Sloan Stanick forced overtime off a scramble in the third period. Following a scoreless, five-minute, three-on-three overtime, Ritchie scored in the second round of the shootout, but Wong replied in the third round, setting the stage for Armstrong’s heroics. The Blue and Gold held a 32-22 advantage on the shot clock. The Raiders drop to 6-3-1 for 13 points, one back of the the Blades. Saskatoon’s next action is Saturday when they visit the Red Deer Rebels. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Brennan Sonne and Wong plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..

Saskatoon Blades 3 at Prince Albert Raiders 2 – Status: Final SO
Sunday, October 15, 2023 – Art Hauser Centre – Prince Albert, SK

Saskatoon 0 2 0 0 1 – 2
Prince Albert 0 1 1 0 0 – 2

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-1, Saskatoon, Sidorov 6 (Wong, Molendyk), 2:34 (PP). 2, Prince Albert, Ritchie 7 (Hoffrogge, Stanick), 17:00. 3, Saskatoon, Wong 3   19:35 (PP). Penalties-Crocker Pa (tripping), 0:53; Goldsmith Pa (checking from behind), 5:03; Stanick Pa (charging), 18:35.

3rd Period-4, Prince Albert, Stanick 3 (Oiring, Hoffrogge), 7:46. Penalties-Lisowsky Sas (tripping), 15:58.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Saskatoon 1 (Lisowsky NG, Sidorov NG, Wong G, Keller NG, Armstrong G), Prince Albert 1 (Oiring NG, Ritchie G, Stanick NG, Dube NG, Kubiesa, NG).
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 17-7-4-4-32. Prince Albert 3-6-11-2-22.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 2 / 3; Prince Albert 0 / 1.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Elliott 5-0-0-0 (22 shots-20 saves). Prince Albert, Coward 2-2-0-1 (32 shots-30 saves).
A-2,163
Referees-Ty Skene (19), Josh Grimm (76).
Linesmen-Jordan Carriere (108), Troy Semenchuk (65).