In a 4-1 victory Friday night, the Saskatoon Blades flipped the script on the Prince Albert Raiders from Thursday and evened the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final series at a win apiece.
Rookie Bridge City Bunch goaltender Evan Gardner (pictured) stopped 31 of 32 shots while the Blue and Gold power play gave the 17-year-old offensive support with three goals on four chances in front of 8,242 fans at SaskTel Centre. The only blemish against Gardner came with 46 seconds left in the third period as Niall Crocker scored on a 5-on-3 man advantage. For the second straight night, the Blades opened the scoring and held a 2-0 lead early in the second period, but didn’t get away from their game as they did Thursday when Max Hildebrand stopped 41 shots and the Raiders’ power play tallied twice on three chances in a 4-3 triumph. Defenceman John Babcock scored on a screened shot on Saskatoon’s second shot on Hildebrand, then got man advantage markers from Egor Sidorov, Easton Armstrong and Tyler Parr. Sidorov and Armstrong each added an assist. Gardner was at his best in the first period after Babcock opened the scoring as Prince Albert got the next eight shots on the Bridge City Bunch goal, on the way to out-shooting the Blue and Gold 32-23. It was the first time the Blades had been out-shot in a game since December 9. The win ended a string of five consecutive Game 2 playoff losses for Saskatoon as the series heads to the Art Hauser Centre for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. SaskTel Centre will host Game 5 on Friday. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Brennan Sonne, Armstrong and Gardner plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..
Prince Albert Raiders 1 at Saskatoon Blades 4 – Status: Final
Friday, March 29, 2024 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Prince Albert 0 0 1 – 1
Saskatoon 1 1 2 – 4
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Babcock 1 (Suzdalev, Armstrong), 2:02. Penalties-Armstrong Sas (tripping), 11:00.
2nd Period-2, Saskatoon, Sidorov 3 (Wong), 3:15 (PP). Penalties-Martin Pa (tripping), 3:10; Hoffrogge Pa (high sticking), 4:17; Molendyk Sas (hooking), 15:23; Christensen Pa (roughing), 18:44; Suzdalev Sas (roughing), 18:44; Saunderson Sas (roughing), 20:00.
3rd Period-3, Saskatoon, Armstrong 1 (Sidorov, Wright), 4:16 (PP). 4, Saskatoon, Parr 1 (Minten, Siepmann), 14:24 (PP). 5, Prince Albert, Crocker 2 (Ritchie, Stanick), 19:14 (PP). Penalties-Stanick Pa (tripping), 4:01; Oiring Pa (major-fighting), 11:10; Hansen Sas (major-fighting), 11:10; Christensen Pa (cross checking), 12:30; Goldsmith Pa (roughing), 12:30; Armstrong Sas (roughing), 12:30; McMillen Pa (slashing), 14:56; Volotovskii Sas (roughing), 14:56; Goldsmith Pa (roughing), 16:34; Watterodt Sas (holding), 16:34; Volotovskii Sas (hooking), 17:16; Babcock Sas (delay of game), 19:00.
Shots on Goal-Prince Albert 13-9-10-32. Saskatoon 7-12-4-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Prince Albert 1 / 5; Saskatoon 3 / 4.
Goalies-Prince Albert, Hildebrand (23 shots-19 saves). Saskatoon, Gardner (32 shots-31 saves).
A-8,242
Referees-Alex Homer (49), Brian MacDonald (7).
Linesmen-Riley Carriere (72), Devin Kohlhauser (92).
