“Good things DO HAPPEN to good people.”
That was what Saskatoon Blades’ head coach Brennan Sonne said after Nolan Maier made 20 saves for a shutout as the Bridge City Bunch blanked the visiting Prince Albert Raiders 2-0 Friday, thus giving the 21-year-old Yorkton product the W-H-L record for most career wins by a goaltender. Maier’s 30th win of the season was the 121st victory of his career, all with the Blue and Gold. The fact that it happened in shutout fashion, for the third time this season and 12th time in his career, over arch-rival P-A and in front of 4,802 fans made the accomplishment all that much sweeter. However, the decision was in doubt for over 52 minutes of the contest as Maier and Tikhon Chaika of the Raiders hooked up in a netminder’s duel that was eerily reminiscent of a March 12th Prince Albert visit to Saskatoon that resulted in a 1-0 Raiders victory. On this occasion, the Blades flipped the script with Egor Sidorov breaking the scoreless deadlock with a power play goal at 12:17 of the third period. Trevor Wong added insurance with 1:59 remaining. Almost lost in the hype of Maier’s record-setting performance was the fact the Bridge City Bunch improved to 37-26-4 for the season for 78 points, jumping ahead of Moose Jaw into fourth place in the Eastern Conference, a standings position that carries home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The rub is that the Warriors have four games left, all on the road, while the Blue and Gold have only a home game on Friday, April 15 against Brandon left to play. The Wheat Kings, meanwhile, are only four points back of Moose Jaw and five behind the Blades with four games remaining, two of them against the Warriors. As for the 26-34-5 Raiders, they remain two points back of Swift Current for the eighth and final post-season berth with two games in hand. Calgary sits in between P-A and the Broncos and have four games remaining. Following is the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Prince Albert Raiders 0 at Saskatoon Blades 2 – Status: Final
Friday, April 8, 2022 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Prince Albert 0 0 0 – 0
Saskatoon 0 0 2 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Allan Pa (interference), 7:01.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Kosior Pa (cross checking), 1:09; Aquilon Pa (hooking), 8:53; Wiens Sas (hooking), 15:05.
3rd Period-1, Saskatoon, Sidorov 23 (Molendyk, Boyko), 12:17 (PP). 2, Saskatoon, Wong 16 (Lisowsky, Sidorov), 18:01. Penalties-Crnkovic Sas (tripping), 4:30; Molendyk Sas (boarding), 6:23; Schneider Sas (10-minute misconduct), 6:23; Pakkala Pa (interference), 7:10; Allan Pa (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 9:22; Wiens Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 9:22; Gislason Pa (high sticking, high sticking), 10:39.
Shots on Goal-Prince Albert 6-8-6-20. Saskatoon 6-10-8-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Prince Albert 0 / 3; Saskatoon 1 / 6.
Goalies-Prince Albert, Chaika 20-20-3-1 (24 shots-22 saves). Saskatoon, Maier 30-23-3-1 (20 shots-20 saves).
A-4,802
Referees-Taylor Burzminski (83), Mike Langin (67).
Linesmen-Riley Carriere (72), Brayden Glynn (96).
