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Hebig the hat trick hero in Blades win vs Raiders

Sep 9, 2017 | 10:09 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders couldn’t make it two in a row at in the annual Legends Arena in Warman against the Saskatoon Blades.

The Blades took the game 5-2 on Saturday, giving them a 5-1 head-to-head record in the Legends classic since it began it 2012. The lone Raiders victory was last year in their 7-5.

Blades 20-year-old Cameron Hebig scored a hat trick, after returning from a year-long injury last season. Braylon Shmyr had four assists.

Sean Montgomery scored both goals for the Raiders. He has now scored the last four goals for the Green and Gold, dating back to Friday’s 3-2 win over the Blades at the Art Hauser Centre.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Blades, Cameron Hebig from Josh Paterson and Braylon Shmyr (power play), 15:34

Second Period

2-0, Blades, Cameron Hebig from Braylon Shmyr (power play), 2:07

3-0, Blades, Gage Ramsay from Kirby Dach, 9:35

3-1, Raiders, Sean Montgomery from Curtis Miske and Kaiden Guhle, 10:45

4-1, Blades, Kirby Dach from Braylon Shmyr and Jake Kustra, 11:39

5-1, Blades, Cameron Hebig from Braylon Shmyr and Jake Kustra, 19:57

Third Period

5-2, Raiders, Sean Montgomery from Curtis Miske and D-Jay Jerome (power play), 7:19

Goaltenders

Raiders: Brett Balas, 38-43

Blades: Logan Flodell, 30-32

Top D-men of the future

Saturday’s game showcased the top two drafted defencemen in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. Raiders defenceman Kaiden Guhle was drafted first overall in that year. The Blades took Aiden De La Gorgendiere fifth overall in the draft.

Both players shared the ice surface Saturday in Warman, and faced off against each other for the second time this preseason. Guhle got an assist in the game. 

Notable absentees

The Raiders are missing four players as they are headed to rookie tournaments with various NHL teams: Ian Scott (Toronto Maple Leafs, fourth round pick in 2017), Jordy Stallard (Winnipeg Jets, fifth round pick in 2016), Vojtech Budik (Buffalo Sabres, fifth round pick in 2016) and Parker Kelly (Ottawa Senators, invite in 2017).

Two other omissions from the lineup are defenceman Max Martin and goaltender Nicholas Sanders. Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said Martin is “pretty close” to returning to the Raiders lineup. Sanders is “getting close” but needs more practice time before he can get back between the pipes.

A couple Pats before the regular season

The Raiders now have two more preseason games to play—a home-and-home series against the Regina Pats on Sept. 15 at the Brandt Centre in Regina, and on Sept. 16 at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders will begin their regular season with a home-and-home series against the Moose Jaw Warriors—starting on Sept. 22 at the Art Hauser Centre and Sept. 23 at Mosaic Place.

 

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW