Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
Home ice was no advantage in a Western Hockey League twinbill between the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades on the weekend.
After being blanked for the first time this season in a 4-0 setback on Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre the Raiders returned the favor on Sunday when they skated to a 3-1 decision over the Blades at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.
“It was a good bounce-back game,” acknowledged Raiders’ head coach Ryan McDonald following Sunday’s victory. “We built off what we had going in the third period from last night (Saturday).”
Unable to beat Saskatoon netminder Evan Gardner with 29 shots on Saturday, the Raiders got one past him early in Sunday’s tilt when Ben Harvey notched his fourth of the season just over five minutes into the match.
Prince Albert held onto the slim lead into the second period, but David Lewandowski got the game on even terms when he beat Raider goalie Steele Bass with his 12th of the campaign.
As was the case on Saturday the Raiders peppered Gardner with plenty of rubber in the final 20 minutes, this time outshooting the Blades 23-5 in that session, and the constant barrage finally paid off when Aiden Oiring potted his 22nd of the year just past the mid-point of the final frame. Braeden Cootes sealed the win with an empty-net insurance marker with less than two minutes to play.
“It was tremendous goaltending at both ends of the ice,” said McDonald. “It was a playoff style of game with both (goaltenders) making key saves when they had to.”
“Both teams were fighting for inches – fighting for shots,” added McDonald.
The Raiders welcomed back shut-down defenceman Linden Burrett, who had been sidelined several games with a lower-body injury. One of the league leaders in plus-minus ratings (+42), Burrett helped calm things down in the Prince Albert zone.
Still out of the line-up are offensive star Brayden Dube and No. 1 netminder Michal Orsulak. It is unclear when either will return to action so serving as Steele’s back-up in the interim is Brady Holtvogt, a call-up from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Humboldt Broncos.
The win increases Prince Albert’s lead to four points over the Medicine Hat Tigers for first place in the Eastern Conference standings and leaves them three points back of the Everett Silvertips for top spot in the entire league. McDonald says with the schedule winding down, his club is going to have to be prepared for tight games the rest of the way.
“When you are leading the conference you are always the hunted,” said McDonald. “We just have to take care of our business. Our focus is on rest and recovery and be ready for Wednesday.”
The Raiders begin a four-game homestand on Wednesday when they will welcome the Calgary Hitmen to the Art Hauser Centre. Game time for that tilt is 7 p.m. A win over the Hitmen would lower the Raiders’ magic number to one to officially secure a playoff spot and in the process become the first team in the league to do so
