For 50 minutes, the Prince Albert Raiders wouldn’t go away, but the older and more experienced Saskatoon Blades eventually over-powered P-A for a 6-1 victory Friday night at SaskTel Centre.
The victory gave the Bridge City Bunch a sweep of their season-longest seven-game homestand, during which the Blue and Gold out-scored opponents 32-10, and upped their home-ice winning streak to 12 games. The Blades scored the game’s last five goals after Turner McMillen’s short-handed tally tied the score at 1-1 after the first period. But, with Saskatoon leading 3-1 in the third period, rookie goaltender Evan Gardner stoned Matej Kubiesa on a bang-bang play at the edge of the crease, then Tyler Parr converted Fraser Minten’s pass for a short-handed goal that gave the Bridge City Bunch the insurance they needed to improve their record to 38-9-5 in front of 5,058 fans. Minten added a goal and a second assist to pace the Blue and Gold offensively while Tanner Molendyk (pictured) and Rowan Calvert each chipped in a goal and a helper with Rhett Melnyk and Misha Volotovskii also connecting for the Blades. Molendyk and Alexander Suzdalev each recorded their 100th career W-H-L points. Fourteen of the 18 Saskatoon skaters found their way onto the scoresheet, while they out-shot the now 23-25-4 Raiders 37-20. The Bridge City Bunch went two-for-four on the power play while Prince Albert was oh-for-two. The Blue and Gold return to action Saturday when they visit the Swift Current Broncos. Game time is 7 o’clock with CJWW’s broadcast starting at 6:45 p.m. with the Palliser Rooms E-Q-3 Cutting Edge Pre-Game Show. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game Show comments from head coach Brennan Sonne, Calvert and Suzdalev plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Prince Albert Raiders 1 at Saskatoon Blades 6 – Status: Final
Friday, February 9, 2024 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Prince Albert 1 0 0 – 1
Saskatoon 1 2 3 – 6
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Molendyk 7 (Sidorov, Wong), 1:31 (PP). 2, Prince Albert, McMillen 6 (Crocker, Kovacs), 18:34 (SH). Penalties-McMillen Pa (holding), 1:05; Sidorov Sas (boarding), 8:38; Lodewyk Pa (holding), 17:22.
2nd Period-3, Saskatoon, Calvert 9 (Suzdalev, Minten), 3:39 (PP). 4, Saskatoon, Minten 16 (Lisowsky, Wright), 14:20. Penalties-Goldsmith Pa (cross checking), 2:19; Dube Pa (hooking), 9:37.
3rd Period-5, Saskatoon, Parr 10 (Minten, Molendyk), 10:04 (SH). 6, Saskatoon, Melnyk 4 (Watterodt, Hansen), 10:59. 7, Saskatoon, Volotovskii 8 (Calvert, Tastad), 14:05. Penalties-Wong Sas (cross checking), 8:21.
Shots on Goal-Prince Albert 4-8-8-20. Saskatoon 11-15-11-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Prince Albert 0 / 2; Saskatoon 2 / 4.
Goalies-Prince Albert, Hildebrand 17-14-1-2 (37 shots-31 saves). Saskatoon, Gardner 15-5-0-2 (20 shots-19 saves).
A-5,058
Referees-Ty Skene (19), Tarrington Wyonzek (137).
Linesmen-Devan Thiessen (94), Tanner McGregor (55).
