By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders shake off SaskTel Centre struggles by stopping Blades

Oct 14, 2018 | 5:31 PM

SASKATOON—The Prince Albert Raiders ended a painful, four-year streak. They finally beat their biggest rivals in their home building.

The Raiders bashed the Saskatoon Blades 6-2 on Sunday at the SaskTel Centre. That’s their first win on Blades’ ice since Sept. 20, 2014. The Raiders went on a 0-14-1 run before seeing its emphatic end on Sunday.

The win makes the Raiders the first team across the 60 CHL teams to reach double-digit wins with their 10-1 record. The Blades fall to 7-3 on the year.

It was another huge multi-point game for Brett Leason as he continues his tear. He scored twice, including a shorthanded, empty net goal, and added an assist to continue his 11-game scoring streak to start the year. Leason now has 22 points and is back in a tie for first place in the Western Hockey League in that regard with Portland Winterhawks’ Joachim Blichfeld.

But the game-changing play came from the shoulder of 200-game man Noah Gregor in the third period. He de-skated the Blades’ top scorer in Kirby Dach along the boards in the Blades’ zone, then funnelled the puck over cross-crease to Brayden Pachal who scored the all-important 4-2 goal.

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“I think it was huge,” Raiders assistant coach Jeff Truitt said. “I think there were a couple of guys that gave hits and also got hits to make place. That’s a real big thing for us.

“When you have a guy like Noah Gregor throwing his weight around at the right time, and it just happens to be against one of their best players, that’s great.”

That theme of getting more physical against the Blades as the game went along seemed to work in the Raiders’ start. 

“We got heavier. I think that was a big thing in separating them and not giving them time and space,” Truitt said. “They’ve got some great forwards with skill and speed. So if we’re pursuing the puck and it’s going to be a 50-50, we have to pay a price for it. We stepped that up in the second half of the game.”

The only time the Blades were able to find the back of the net on was against one of the Raiders’ biggest strengths, their penalty kill.

The Blades went 2-6 with their power play, getting goals from Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen in the first period, and Dawson Davidson in the second. The Blades the only team to score multiple goals with the man-advantage against the Raiders this year.

You’ll have to go back to Sept. 28 to find the only other power play goal against the Raiders this season. Medicine Hat Tigers’ Henrik Rybinski scored with two minutes remaining of the third period, a game the Raiders won 5-3 over the Tigers. The Raiders penalty kill now sits at 93.8 per cent and still has scored more shorthanded (five times) than it’s allowed power play goals against (three times).

Blades Jake Kustra left the third period by putting very little weight on his left leg, after a collision with Raiders defenceman Sergei Sapego. Sapego delivered a shoulder-to-shoulder check, but Kustra fell awkwardly into the half-boards. He did not return to the game.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Blades, Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen from Eric Florchuk and Kirby Dach (power play), 2:36

1-1, Raiders, Spencer Moe from Brayden Pachal and Cole Fonstad, 5:20

2-1, Raiders, Parker Kelly from Sergei Sapego and Max Martin, 9:46

Second Period

2-2, Blades, Dawson Davidson from Max Gerlach and Eric Florchuk, (power play), 14:01

3-2, Raiders, Brett Leason from Sean Montgomery and Brayden Pachal, 17:12

Third Period

4-2, Raiders, Brett Leason from Sean Montgomery and Brayden Pachal, 9:50

5-2, Raiders, Sean Montgomery from Brett Leason and Aliaksei Protas, 14:31

6-2, Raiders, Brett Leason from Aliaksei Protas (empty net, shorthanded), 19:26

Quick turnaround against Calgary

The Calgary Hitmen are in town on Tuesday, 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders shutout the Hitmen 4-0 on Thanksgiving Monday in their only previous meeting so far this year.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW