It took three periods to break the ice, but when the Prince Albert Raiders did, they never looked back.
Tikhon Chaika made 26 saves and defenceman Tayem Gislason’s first WHL goal proved to be the game-winner as the Raiders outlasted the Saskatoon Blades for a 4-1 win in their last game before the Christmas break.
“We grinded it out,” head coach Marc Habscheid said afterwards. “I thought the first half of the game we were a little bit careful, just dipping our toe in and wondering what was going to happen. Then, after that, I thought we looked good.
“It seemed like we took over after that and when there was a breakdown our goalie made a save.”
Landon Kosior, Ozzy Wiesblatt and Evan Herman had the other goals for Prince Albert, who have now won three of four games with the Blades this season. Misha Volotovskii had the lone Saskatoon goal, while Nolan Maier made 22 saves in a losing cause.
“Everybody’s happy, obviously,” Habscheid said when asked about heading into Christmas on a winning note. “It’s a win. We’ve played them four times. We’ve won three, so we’ll take that.”
The two clubs played a scoreless first and second period at the SaskTel Centre on Saturday, but the Raiders were able to break the deadlock early in the third.
Blades winger Brendan Lee was called for hooking, and the Raiders wasted little time converting with the man advantage. The puck bounced to Koisor following a goalmouth scramble, and the Raiders defenceman made no mistake, firing a shot past Maier just 23 seconds into the powerplay.
The Blades tied things up less than two minutes later, however, when Volotovskii found himself alone in the slot and beat Chaika with a wrist shot to make it 1-1. The goal caused a brief delay as fans covered the ice with teddy bears for Saskatoon’s Teddy Bear Toss Night.
The Raiders took the lead for good once play resumed on Gislason’s first WHL goal. The Raider defenceman’s point shot took a couple of bounces and trickled past Maier with just under eight minutes to play.
The scored remained 2-1 Prince Albert until the final two minutes of the period, when Ozzy Wiesblatt and Evan Herman added empty-netters to make it 4-1.
Saturday’s win improves Prince Albert’s record to 12-14-1-1 on the season. They currently sit tied for seventh with the Calgary Hitmen and Swift Current Broncos. All three clubs have 26 points, but the Raiders have played two more games than the Hitmen, and two less than the Broncos.
The loss drops the Blades to 15-13-1-0 on the year. They now sit tied for fifth with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The Raiders are off until Dec. 27 when they take on the Blades again at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop 7 p.m.