Sloan Stanick scored his first, second, and third goals as a Raider, as Prince Albert beat the Saskatoon Blades 5-2 in the second half of their home and home series on Saturday night.

“Those were a big four points for us to get this weekend,” Stanick said. “We all played together and I think we’re all coming along as a team. Our powerplay was on point this weekend, and all four lines and six defenceman were playing really well this weekend.”

Tyson Laventure also scored twice in the win, improving the Raiders to 5-7-0-1 on the season.

Seven icings in the first eight minutes of the game slowed the pace right down to start things off. Landon Kosior later headed to the penalty box to serve a cross checking penalty, but the Blades failed to capitalize. The game continued to be a back and forth affair for most of the opening frame, exchanging shots and chances.

Trevor Wong had the best chance of the period for the Blades, as he was sprung on a breakaway, but Carter Serhyenko made a huge save, keeping it a tie.

With 1:53 left in the first period, Sloan Stanick led a two on one rush for the Raiders, and he kept the puck, firing a laser, going bar down on Saskatoon netminder Ethan Chadwick.

The Blades had a glorious chance to tie the game towards the end of the period, when Brendan Lee sent a cross crease pass to Brandon Lisowsky, but Serhyenko made a huge pad save lunging to his left and making the save of the game for the Raiders.

The Raiders held onto their 1-0 lead into the first intermission, despite trailing 9-5 in the shot department.
Stanick wasn’t done scoring on the night, as he drew a penalty shot after being sent on a breakaway. He made no mistake on the penalty shot, putting a shot through the five hole of Chadwick, and putting Prince Albert up 2-0.

Later in the middle frame, with the Raiders on the powerplay, Ozzy Wiesblatt sent a crisp pass from the right hashmark to the left for a waiting Tyson Laventure, and he rocketed a shot top shelf over Chadwick, putting the Raiders up by three. That would be the end of Chadwick’s night, as he was replaced by Nolan Maier between the pipes midway through the second period.

Laventure found the scoresheet again with 2:33 left in the second, as Keaton Sorenson set him up with a pass from behind the net. Laventure corked another one timer, beating Maier on the blocker side, giving the Raiders a 4-0 lead after two periods.

It didn’t take long for the Blades to respond in the third period, as Egor Sidorov was the recipient of a stretch pass from Ben Saunderson. Sidorov took advantage of a poor Raider line change, and streaked down the right wing. He made a backhand forehand move, freezing Serhyenko, allowing him to make a move across the crease, and potting his seventh of the season, cutting the Raider lead to 4-1.

With 4:03 left in the third, Sloan Stanick completed the hat trick on the powerplay. Laventure put a shot on goal, and Stanick was right in front for the redirection. His third of the game made it a 5-1 Raider lead, and their second powerplay goal of the night.

“I just wanted to play my game,” Stanick added. “I’m playing with two great players in Tyson Laventure and Reece Vitelli, so that made it a little easier out there for me.”

The Blades would get a man advantage of their own late in the third, and it was only a matter of time before Tristan Robins found the scoresheet. He sniped a shot under the arm of Serhyenko, making it a 5-2 lead for Prince Albert, scoring Saskatoon’s first powerplay goal of the weekend.

The Blades pulled their goalie with two minutes left in the third while down by three goals, but failed to generate any chances on offence. They would actually take two penalties in the final minute of the game, giving the Raiders a five on three man advantage in the dying seconds, killing the rest of the time on the scoreboard.

Stanick picked up his first three goals with Prince Albert, adding an assist as well. Laventure tallied two goals and an assist as well. The quiet stat of the night was Kaiden Guhle, who recorded three assists, while looking solid on the Raiders backend.

Serhyenko put in a similar performance as Friday night, making 25 saves on 26 shots, including a few early game saving stops.

“We’ve been playing well and we know what we can do out there,” Serhyenko said. “We had a really good team effort in both games. Good shot blocks, good clears and breakouts. The team really made it easy for me out there.”

Serhyenko made 24 saves in both Friday and Saturday’s wins, and now that he gets the opportunity to be a full time starter in the WHL, he feels he is really settling into the role.

“I’m just trying to give the team a chance to win every night, and I know I can do that. We have a lot of new faces this year, but I think we’re all coming together well, but at the same time we have to keep getting better. We can’t be complacent with where we’re at. We still need to keep improving and we’ve still got a long way to go if we want to win the league again.”

The Raiders have now won three games in a row, and look to continue rolling into next week. They’ll have a tough test when they welcome the Edmonton Oil Kings for the first time this season on Wednesday. The Oil Kings currently sit first in the Central division, sitting 10-3-1-1.

Puck drop from the Art Hauser Centre on Wednesday at 7pm.

It was the Serhyenko show Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre, as Carter Serhyenko lead the Raiders to a 5-1 win against the Saskatoon Blades in their first meeting of the season.

The Raider netminder made 24 saves on 25 shots, including a number of highlight reel stops in the second and third periods.

“We’ve been getting better,” head coach Marc Habscheid said after the win. “Your overage guys have got to be contributing all the time. I think this was Vitelli’s best game, and it was Wiesblatt’s best game as well.”

Jayden Wiens opened the scoring for the Blades less than four minutes into the game, when he capitalized on a pretty feed in front of the net from teammate Brendan Lee behind the net.

Raider goalie Carter Serhyenko was caught looking the wrong way behind his goal, and the puck snuck through his legs for the opening marker of the contest.

Reece Vitelli tied the game on the breakaway, after he was set free on a beautiful lead pass from Tyson Laventure. He beat Blades goalie Nolan Maier on the glove side and you could tell he was pumped to make the game even once again.

Nolan Allan struck on the second period on a shot from the point that hit the left post and went in past the glove of Maier. Allan’s first goal of the season put the Raiders on top 2-1.

“This is a lot of our guys’ first game against Saskatoon,” Allan said about the rivalry these two teams have. “They got a good taste of it tonight. Everyone knows how big this rivalry is, and they’re jumping right into it, and it’s good to see.”

It seemed like Prince Albert extended the lead with another powerplay marker, when Kaiden Guhle let a shot go from the point that Maier didn’t see. The Raiders looked to be up 3-1, but the Blades challenged the play for offside, and after a lengthy review, it was deemed the play was offside on the zone entry. The goal was waved off, denying Guhle his first goal of the season.

Carter Serhyenko stood on his head in the late stages of the second period, absolutely stoning Kyle Crnkovic twice in front of the net. His big stops helped the Raiders into the second intermission with a one goal lead.

The Raiders continued to work on Maier’s glove side in the third period, and they did so again during a 4 on 4. Ozzy Wiesblatt found Reece Vitelli streaking up the right wing, allowing Vitelli and Kosior to break in on a 2 on 1.

Vitelli sent a pass on the tape to Kosior, who sniped a shot under Maier’s arm, giving Prince Albert a two goal lead, making up for the goal that was disallowed in the second frame.

Ozzy Wiesblatt sealed the deal for the Raiders, scoring an empty netter with 1:56 left in the third. And as if thar wasn’t enough, Terrell Goldsmith scored with 1:19 left to put the Raiders up 5-1. Wiesblatt picked up his fifth goal of the year, while Goldsmith notched his second, as Prince Albert won 5-1 in the first meeting of the year with their biggest rival.

“We played a full 60,” Allan added. “It’s just about consistency, we have to play like that night in night out.

“There are a lot of new guys on this team, and it takes a little bit of time to get them integrated into our culture and our team. I think they’re coming along great, and I think we’re going to keep improving.”

Despite picking up their largest margin of victory this season, Habscheid said his team still has room for improvement, particularily when it comes to staying out of the penalty box.

“Our goal is three (penalties) or less, and we took three in the first five minutes,” he said. “There were too many penalties, but on the other side of it, our powerplay had their best game all year. The guys moved the puck really well. Lots of shots and plays on net. It was too bad that (Guhle’s) got disallowed, because that could’ve been a huge turning point in the game.”

The Raiders have had a huge turnaround with their roster this year, with trades and new players coming in, and Habscheid thinks his team is finally starting to settle down now that all the pieces are together.

“We’re getting there. I think every game it gets better. But before you can instill systems and everything, the players have to buy into culture. We’ve established some culture here in winning, and moving guys on to the next level, so it certainly helps everyone buy in.”

The Raiders will head into Saskatoon for the rematch on Saturday night, and Allan says his team will need to put in the same performance they did on Friday to come out of the weekend with all four points.

“We’re going to stick to our gameplan, and do the same thing we did tonight,” Allan said. “We have to play a full 60 again, and play a fast, hard style game.”

Friday marked the first time the Raiders have won consecutive games this season. They’ll look to add to their winning streak on Saturday, when the second half of the home and home series shifts to Saskatoon.

The Raiders will visit the SaskTel Centre for the first time this season, and have a chance for their first home and home sweep of the year. Puck drop is at 7pm.

For the first time since 2018, a Canadian Tire Classic champion has been crowned.

The St. Mary Marauders took down the Carlton Crusaders 35-14 on Thursday night to not only win the Canadian Tire Cup, but the tier two high school football championship. With last year’s season being cancelled, and 2019’s game ending in a tie (however they would meet again in the playoffs with St. Mary winning the rematch and the cup), it was a big moment of relief for this year’s Marauder team.

“It’s a huge exhale,” Marauders head coach Curtis Hundeby said after the win. “Until that clock read zeros I knew it wasn’t over. I’m really happy for our guys, but especially for our grade 12’s, to be able to finish the season with a win, and to go out as champions. It’s really exciting for them.”

The Marauders stuck with what has worked for them all season long: their run game. Keeping the ball on the ground they were able to pick apart the Carlton defense, whether it was a jet sweep or just a plunge through the defensive line. Hundeby said once they figured out Carlton’s defensive system, they were able to execute.

“Carlton gave us a very different look on defense than we predicted,” he said. “It took us a while to crack the code, and I think part of it was just lucky play calling, and the guys did a really good job blocking on a handful of plays.”

After stopping the Crusaders on offence in Carlton’s opening possession of the game, the Marauders brought the ball up the field on their first offensive possession, scoring a touchdown to open the scoring 7-0 in the first quarter.

St. Mary would make a mistake on their next possession. It was third and goal on their own two yard line, and they kept their offence on the field to give up a safety, but quarterback Brady Robin took a knee on the one yard line instead of in the end zone, giving the Crusaders possession on the St. Mary one, and they scored a rushing touchdown, and tied the game 7-7.

In the second quarter, the Marauders would force a fumble, recovering the ball and taking the field with their offence, and driving down field again for their second touchdown of the game, making it a 14-7 St. Mary lead.

It looked like the Marauders were heading into the first half with the lead, but a penalty flag on the last play of the first half gave the Crusaders a second chance to tie the game, and they did, scoring a touchdown as the clock read zeros in the second quarter. The game was tied 14-14 after the first half.

St. Mary opened the third quarter with a massive play, as Gavin Johns rushed the ball over 50 yards to the endzone, giving St. Mary a 21-14 lead to open the second half. From there, they never looked back, scoring two more touchdowns, and sealing the 35-14 win.

It was a special moment for Gee, a grade 12 player who played a big part in the win on Thursday with two touchdown runs, as well as for his fellow grade 12’s, getting to spend their last football game as champions.

“It feels amazing, especially after not getting to play last year because of COVID,” Gee said. “We kept them to zero points in the second half. I told the boys we had to get our tempo up, and they proved it.”

“It feels awesome to leave here as a winner,” he added. “I remember when I was in grade 9 and we came out and lost in my first year, and it feels great to come back and win it in my final year.”

This Marauders team is a team filled with grade 12’s, and knowing that this would be their last game together, Gee said the preparation was the most important part heading into Thursday’s game.

“All the guys sat down and we had a talk. We needed to be mentally prepared for this game because it wasn’t going to be easy. Carlton gave it to us in the first half, but in the second half we just prevailed.”

The connections that the St. Mary team had made this season with each other is something that Gee won’t forget anytime soon.

“This is my family now,” he said about his grade 12 teammates. “These guys have been my friends since I was five years old, and it feels great to get this team win.”

Hundeby reflected on the entire season, and shared what he was most proud about his whole team, especially after winning their last game.

“We didn’t have a chance to work anything in the offseason, we couldn’t work out together, and some of these guys have never played football before. So how they learned the game, how they came together, how they bonded. Especially tied 14-14 after the first half, how they rallied. They did such a good job rallying at the end, and really leaning on each other, and we showed a lot of grit.”

The Prince Albert Mintos took to the road on Wednesday to take on the Battlefords Stars, and came away with their second straight win.

The Mintos scored two in the first and four more in the second before the Stars even got on the board, and skated away with a 6-1 victory.

“It was a solid group effort,” head coach Tim Leonard said. “Shumanki was good in net with what he had to face. Our defence and forwards were really good too. This is the first night we’ve had everyone play, and the guys got rewarded for their work.”

Zach Bansley has missed 11 of the Mintos first 13 games this season after suffering an arm injury in the preseason. He played one game against Estevan in early October, before sitting out again because of his arm. On Wednesday, he returned to the lineup again, tallying two goals in the win.

“It’s been tough for him, “ Leonard said. “He’s battled through two bad injuries this year, but he responded well. He’s in good shape and we eased him back into playing last night. It didn’t take him long to get going, and it was nice to see him score some goals, because that’s been something we’ve been lacking lately.”

The Mintos went on the powerplay nine times last night, scoring on three of their man advantages. Leonard said it’s nice to see his team producing with their special teams.

“Our powerplay has been average at best so far, and in this league, it’s a key factor, being on the powerplay,” he explained. “We’ve been practicing, and now that we have everyone back, we can throw them in with a set group. Last night we did pretty good. We had some really good looks from both powerplay units.”

Van Taylor, Ryan Lepitzki, Ashton Tait and Jacob Cossette also scored for the Mintos, who improved to 8-4-0-1 on the year. Treycen Wuttunee had the loan goal for the Stars, who fell to 3-8-0-0.

When asked about how the Stars attacked his team, Leonard said his group didn’t give the Battlefords a chance to get into a rhythm.

“We were really quick last night. We played a really fast paced game, and for the most part, I think (Battlefords) was a step behind,” he said. “They do finish their checks, they do come hard, and they’ve got some big guys over there, but when you keep your feet moving, you don’t give them a chance to lay those licks on you. We did a good job of that last night.”

The Mintos will stay on the road, as they travel to Tisdale to take on the Trojans on Saturday. Tisdale sits last in the league with just one win so far, but Leonard knows his team can’t take that for granted.

“Anybody can beat anybody in this league,” he said. “I’ve seen it for years. If you don’t come prepared mentally, you can be in trouble. Tisdale isn’t an easy place to play. But we’ll have some good skates, and we’ll be ready on Saturday.”

Puck drop for the Mintos and Trojans in Tisdale on Saturday is at 7:30pm.

@kyle_kosowan • sports@paherald.sk.ca

The Prince Albert Raiders will begin their fifth home and home series of the season this weekend, with a pair of games against the Saskatoon Blades.

The Raiders haven’t played since Saturday, when they picked up a 3-1 win in Brandon, collecting the split in their last home and home matchup.

Raider forward Keaton Sorenson, who scored twice in Saturday’s win, said he’s looking forward to this weekend’s games against Prince Albert’s biggest rival.

“They’re two of the biggest game of the year,” Sorenson said. “I think if we play a full 60 minutes in both games we shouldn’t have a problem this weekend. It should be fun.”

The Raiders have split three out of the four home and home sets with Moose Jaw, Medicine Hat, and Brandon, getting swept in only one, at the start of the season against the Regina Pats.

The club’s offence is stepping up after a slow start to the season, scoring at least three goals in four of their last five games. At the start of the year, they only managed to score three goals in a game in one of their first six games.

A depleted roster didn’t help things, with defenceman Kaiden Guile and Nolan Allan at NHL camps, Tyson Laventure injured, and imports Vlad Shilo and Tikhon Chaika yet to arrive from Belarus. Now that all their main pieces are back on the ice, the club has started to settle down, and Sorenson said they’re eager to compete against an in division rival.

“We look forward to these games,” he said. “I think they’ll be good ones.”

The Raiders sit in last place in the East Division, but are only three points back of the Regina Pats and Brandon Wheat Kings for third place. The Winnipeg and Saskatoon Blades seem to be running away with the top two spots early in the 2021-22 season.

The Blades are off to a hot start this year, sitting in second with a 9-2-1 record. That puts them five points behind Winnipeg, who have a 12-1-0 record. The Ice and Blades not only lead the East Division, they sit 1-2 in the entire WHL.

The Blades have scored in bunches all year long, scoring three or more times in 11 of their first 12 games, only failing to do so in a 7-1 loss against the Warriors in their season opener.

Tristen Robins and Kyle Crnkovic have led the way for the Blades offensively, with 22 and 20 points respectively. Robins has points in 10 of 11 of his games played this season, while Crnkovic has put up at least one point in every game.

Ten of those points for both players have come on the powerplay, so for the Raiders, staying out of the penalty box will be key.  Out of 48 Saskatoon goals this season, 19 have come on the man advantage, out of 60 powerplay chances. Their 31.7% powerplay conversion rate has them sitting third in the league.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Raiders are fourth last in the WHL on the penalty kill, allowing 16 goals on 57 chances.

The first game of the home and home set is on Friday in Prince Albert. The two rivals will then head to the Bridge City on Saturday for the rematch.

Puck drop at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday is at 7pm.

@kyle_kosowan • sports@paherald.sk.ca

The St. Mary Marauders and Carlton Crusaders tied 27-27 in the last Canadian Tire Classic played in 2019.
This year, St. Mary will look to regain the title of city champions, as well as take home the Tier 2 title. The stakes will be high on Thursday, and Marauder head coach Curtis Hundeby said his team is ready to finally play their cross-town rivals.
“It’s a combination of excitement and nervousness,” Hundeby said. “I was looking forward to getting here. We’re getting to the point now in the season where you’ve prepped what you want to prep, and you’re just excited to do it. Obviously we don’t want it to be over, but the waiting is the hardest part.”
With the extra month to prepare for their meeting with the Crusaders, after being uncertain if they would get the opportunity to play their long time rivals at all this season, Hundeby said both teams have an edge heading in.
“I think from a film perspective, it goes both ways,” he explained. “Both teams are a lot more polished than we would’ve been had we faced each other in week four.”
It’s been a grind all year for this young St. Mary team, and now that they’re playing for a championship this week, Hundeby wants his players to be relaxed heading in.
“I want our guys to enjoy the process,” Hundeby said. “Don’t be too excited to get to the end result, because the lessons really come from the process. I want them to savor this time because you don’t have a lot of seasons where you know that a game is going to be your last one. We know this is it. It’s our last game of the season, and one of us gets to walk off the field as heroes, and the other is going to have a bitter taste in their mouth.”
The MO for the Marauders this season has been the run game. It’s been no secret that they have used their running backs to provide the majority of their offence all season. Hundeby doesn’t expect that plan to change on Thursday.
“We need to be able to establish our run game,” he said. “It’s been our bread and butter all season. If we can’t get that going, then we’re in trouble.
“It’s something that’s a vital part of our offence. We’re not going to run a fancy new offensive system or trick plays or anything like that. It’s going to be about man vs man, and doing your job, and doing it well for all four quarters.”

St. Mary Marauder notes

The run game has worked well for the Marauders all season long. They’ve scored 20 or more points in all but one game this year (a 6-4 loss against Walter Murray in September). They put up a combined 157 points during their last four games, winning all four in the process.
If they can continue to run the ball efficiently on Thursday, St. Mary will find themselves in a solid position to win the football game. If not, they will have to hope their defense can put together solid stops to keep them in the game.
The biggest football game of the 2021 season gets underway on Thursday night, with a 6:30pm kickoff.

@kyle_kosowan • sports@paherald.sk.ca

The wait is almost over for the biggest high school football game in Prince Albert.
On Thursday night, the Carlton Crusaders and St. Mary Marauders will play their final games of the season, with the Tier 2 Championship and Canadian Tire Classic on the line.
Crusaders head coach Lindsay Strachan says the anticipation is building, and the team can’t wait to get going.
“It’s an opportunity to compete for the Tier 2 title at home,” Strachan said. “I’m excited for the chance our kids get this week, and we’re getting ready to roll here.”
Strachan said his message to the team this week focused on mental preparation. The club missed two games this year due to COVID-19, but bounced back with a 28-12 win over Bethlehem in their final game of the season.
“The main message has just been belief,” Strachan said. “Things happen for a reason and here we are. We know what’s in front of us, and we’re getting prepared to show up and play our best football game.”
These two teams were supposed to play in early October. With the date being pushed back to early November, Strachan said having the extra month to review film may pay dividends for both teams.
“I think over the course of a football season teams grow from week to week,” he explained. “There have been some changes, and I’m sure St. Mary has seen some changes in our film from when they originally prepared for us as well. At the end of the day, they’re benefiting from that time as well as we are.”
While having the extra time to prepare for this game, there have obviously been pressure filled games that Carlton has had to win in order to reach this stage. Now, with the big stage looming, Strachan says the key to victory will be to come out strong, and keep playing aggressive.
“We’re going to have to play our most physical game of football yet this year,” he said. “That’ll give us the opportunity to compete and do what we do. We have to be there in terms of our physicality.”

Carlton Crusader notes

The Crusaders have not only been a physical team all season, but they’ve been a smart team defensively. They are known to play tough late into games, and opponents have found points are hard to come by in the second half of the game. If Carlton can find their defensive step early in Thursday’s game, they will find themselves in a nice position to pick up the W.
Twenty-eight has been Carlton’s favourite number the last couple of weeks. They put up 28 points in each of their last two victories, and may have to put up 28 or better again, as they square off with a Marauder team that has put up 35 or more points in each of their last four games.
It is the biggest sporting event in Prince Albert since 2019. One of the biggest high school rivalries in the province will kickoff on Thursday in both teams’ final games of the season. It’s the Canadian Tire Classic. It’s the tier 2 championship. Kickoff on Thursday is at 6:30pm.

The Prince Albert Mintos gave up two late goals, but scored a late one of their own, taking down the Notre Dame Hounds in their first meeting of the year Sunday at the Art Hauser Centre.

“We played hard again,” head coach Tim Leonard said after the win. “They tied it up, but we got a little puck luck and got a breakaway and (Jacob) buried it, and that was the difference.”

Prince Albert struck first midway through the first period, when Nate Misskey ripped a wrister from the point on the powerplay, beating Hounds goalie Wilson Maxfield, and putting the home team up 1-0. With five to go in the opening frame, Karson Blanchette extended the Mintos lead to 2-0, on a laser shot from the high slot.

The Mintos headed into the first intermission with a two goal lead, despite being outshot 11-6 through the first 20 minutes.

The Mintos had two powerplays in the second period, and those were the best opportunities they had to extend their lead even further, but they couldn’t convert on either man advantage. The second period was scoreless, and Prince Albert still held their 2-0 lead after 40.

The Hounds found their way onto the scoreboard with 13:46 left in the third period, when Keagan Merriman struck for the red and white, cutting the Mintos lead to 2-1. With 6:24 remaining, Notre Dame tied it up, with Owen Thomas converted on a nice feed from Luke Marshall, making it a 2-2 score. The Mintos called a timeout with seven minutes left in regulation, trying to settle the game down.

“We were panicking and making bad decisions. We needed to settle down and just play our game. We’re as good as anyone in this league, and we had to play that way at the end.”

The game would only remain tied for 17 seconds however, as Jacob Cossette busted down the ice on a breakaway, ripping a shot past the blocker of Maxfield, putting the Mintos right back on top 3-2.

The Hounds would push back again, hemming Prince Albert in their own end for much of the last five minutes. Notre Dame would take a penalty with 1:50 left in the game, allowing the Mintos to settle the game down back in the Notre Dame end. They killed off a full minute moving the puck around in the offensive zone, but the Hounds cleared the puck, allowing them to pull the goalie and bring out the extra attacker.

It wouldn’t be enough though, as the Mintos hung on and came out with the 3-2 win, taking two out of four points over the weekend.

This is the first time the Mintos have faced off against this Hounds team, and for Minto forward Travis Swanson, it was a new challenge for him and his teammates.

“They’re such an unpredictable team,” Swanson said after the game. “They have guys from all over the world. Most teams around Saskatchewan you know some of the guys personally, but it’s a little different with Notre Dame, because you never know what they’re going to look like.”

Swanson played a huge role in the Mintos win, winning defensive zone faceoffs, and preventing the Hounds from generating any offensive zone chances.

“It was a hard battle,” Swanson said. “Everybody came to play and put in a full effort. We deserved the win”

Jayden Kraus was making desperation saves left right and center in this one, keeping his team in the game, saving half of the Notre Dame shots while on his stomach. He made 33 saves on 35 shots in the win, while Maxfield turned aside 18 of 21 in the loss.

“Jayden was solid,” Swanson added. “He’s a really good goalie and he helped us out tonight. The third period was a bit of a scramble, and he faced a lot of shots, and he kept us in the game.”

Next up, the Mintos hit the road for a game on Wednesday in the Battlefords against the Stars. After that, they’ll travel to Tisdale for a date with the Trojans on Saturday. They won’t return home until November 26th, when they’ll host the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Puck drop in the Battlefords on Wednesday is at 7:30pm.

The Prince Albert Raiders travelled to Westoba Place in Brandon, looking to pick up the split in a weekend home and home with the Wheat Kings. Keaton Sorenson put in his best performance of the season, scoring twice in the Raiders 3-1 win.

Sorenson opened the scoring with just over nine minutes left in the first period, as he deked his way towards the net, before finding a hole between the legs of Brandon goalie Ethan Kruger, and tucked a shot five hole to put Prince Albert up by one.

Sorenson wasn’t done scoring in the first, as with three minutes left, he converted on a pass from Ozzy Wiesblatt, making it a 2-0 Raider lead heading into the first intermission.

The second period saw no scoring until the 18 minute mark, when Wheat Kings forward Brett Hyland let go of a shot that beat Carter Serhyenko, scoring his second goal of the season, after he scored his first on Friday in PA.

The Raiders would restore their two goal lead two and a half minutes into the third when Landon Kosior let go of a shot through traffic, beating Kruger for his first of the season, putting Prince Albert up 3-1.

Carter Serhyenko shut the door the rest of the way, turning in one of his best performances of the season, allowing just one goal on 25 shots in the contest. Kruger made 25 saves on 28 shots that came his way.

Prince Albert picked up their third win of the season, and it looks like their offence is finally starting to connect, as they’ve scored three or more goals in three straight games.

Prince Albert is off until Friday, when they will welcome the Saskatoon Blades to the Art Hauser Centre for the first time this season. That will be the first half of another home and home for Prince Albert, as they will head to the Bridge City on Saturday for the rematch. Puck drop on Friday is at 7pm.

@kyle_kosowan•sports@paherald.sk.ca

The Prince Albert Mintos put in their best effort of the season against the best team in the league, but it wasn’t quite enough, as the Regina Pat Canadians skated out of the Art Hauser Centre with a 3-1 win on Saturday.

“I thought we put in a solid effort,” head coach Tim Leonard said after the game. “We did a lot of good things out there tonight. (Regina) is a first place team, and we limited their opportunities. I think that might be the best game we’ve played all year, and we just didn’t come out on the right side on the scoreboard.”

The pace of play was fast all game, and with stoppages coming few and far between, it was a tough test for a Minto team that has looked like they’ve started to find their step.

“It stings a little,” Leonard added. “It’s still a loss, but we’ve got a quick turnaround tomorrow with a good team coming in. We’ll shake it off tonight, and start focusing for tomorrow.”

The first period looked like it would end with a scoreless tie, but with ten seconds left, Brayden Barnett found a seam, and beat Minto goalie Ty Shumanski to put Regina up 1-0 through one.

Barnett would strike again early in the second, scoring his second goal of the night on the powerplay, putting the Pat C’s up by two. The big forward picked up his second and third goals of the season, and it looked like Regina would start to take the game into their hands, as they controlled the puck in the Prince Albert end for the next eight minutes.

However, with 6:31 to go in the middle frame, it would be the Mintos responding with a powerplay goal of their own. Ashton Tait, newly returned to the lineup after his bronze medal stint at the WHL Cup, sniped a shot in the high slot, cutting the deficit to 2-1 heading into the second intermission.

In the third period, Regina got a bit of insurance, as Harper Lolacher, who’s had success against the Mintos this season, netted his third of the season, putting Regina on top by a pair with 8:25 to go in the game.

The Mintos would call timeout in the final two minutes of the game, and sent out an extra attacker in the last minute, but they failed to generate any goals, despite creating one chance to make it a one goal game.

The Pat Canadians took the game by a 3-1 score, although they were outshot 24-19 by Prince Albert.

“They’re a good team,” Leonard said. “As a measuring stick, if that’s the best (team) in the league, we’re getting close to that, and we’re excited.” The Mintos will have a short rest, as they’ll welcome the Notre Dame Hounds to the Art Hauser Centre on Sunday. Puck drops at 1:30.