Thanks to some games being worth three points in the standings, the Saskatoon Blades maintained a positive run of results despite falling 2-1 in a shootout in Prince Albert Saturday as the Raiders ended a four-game losing skid.

Rookie 16-year-old forward Oli Chenier notched the only goal of the penalty shot competition in the seventh round of shots as P-A’s Max Hildebrand and Evan Gardner of the Bridge City Bunch engaged in a goaltender’s duel. Turner McMillen opened the scored for the Raiders, the only one of 28 shots to elude Gardner, while Tyler Parr (pictured) squared the score early in the second period on the only one of 33 shots to beat Hildebrand. The Blue and Gold are 11-0-4 in their last 15 games, their last regulation time loss coming November 22 in Everett. Overall, the Blades are 26-8-4, but missed out on ample opportunities for a third consecutive win as Saskatoon had four consecutive power play chances to finish the game and had four chances to win in the shootout, but couldn’t solve Hildebrand. Prince Albert improved to 18-18-2 with their first win in five tries over the Bridge City Bunch this season. The Blue and Gold are off until Wednesday when they host the Vancouver Giants at SaskTel Centre for the first time in four years. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L and Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show interview with head coach Brennan Sonne…..

Saskatoon Blades 1 at Prince Albert Raiders 2 (SO) – Status: Final SO
Saturday, January 6, 2024 – Art Hauser Centre – Prince Albert, SK

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

1st Period-1, Prince Albert, McMillen 3   18:24. Penalties-Watterodt Sas (tripping), 2:17; Kovacs Pa (tripping), 4:57; served by Suzdalev Sas (too many men), 8:39; Stanick Pa (tripping), 9:13.

2nd Period-2, Saskatoon, Parr 7 (Wright, Suzdalev), 5:40. Penalties-Watterodt Sas (roughing), 3:43; Christensen Pa (cross checking), 3:43; Hoffrogge Pa (roughing), 13:47; Lodewyk Pa (cross checking), 19:15.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Macias Pa (high sticking), 10:20; Pakkala Pa (delay of game), 12:23; Wong Sas (holding), 19:11; Oiring Pa (hooking), 19:11.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Saskatoon 0 (Suzdalev NG, Lisowsky NG, Sidorov NG, Armstrong NG, Watterodt NG, Saunderson NG, Parr NG), Prince Albert 1 (Oiring NG, Stanick NG, Macias NG, Crocker NG, Dube NG, Christensen NG, Chenier G).
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 6-10-14-3-0-33. Prince Albert 6-16-5-1-1-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 6; Prince Albert 0 / 2.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Gardner 9-4-0-0 (28 shots-27 saves). Prince Albert, Hildebrand 11-10-0-1 (33 shots-32 saves).
A-2,723
Referees-Taylor Burzminski (83), Alex Homer (49).
Linesmen-Jordan Carriere (108), Troy Semenchuk (65).