Saskatoon's Easton Armstrong scores his first of three goals Tuesday night on Prince Albert netminder Max Hildebrand. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nolan Kowal

OT thriller

Armstrong’s hat trick leads Blades past Raiders in penalty filled Game 3

Apr 2, 2024 | 11:40 PM

Easton Armstrong scored just 23 seconds into overtime to complete the hat trick as the Saskatoon Blades beat the Prince Albert Raiders 4-3 Tuesday night in Game 3 of their first round playoff series at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Blades now lead the series two games to one.

The Raiders got goals from Krzysztof Macias, Ryder Ritchie, and Aiden Oiring, while Saskatoon captain Trevor Wong scored the other Blades goal.

P.A. trailed 2-0 after one period but eventually forced overtime with Oiring tying the game at 3-3 in the third period before Armstrong’s heroics in extra time.

“Saskatoon…they always come out blazing fire in the first period,” said Raiders Assistant Coach Ryan McDonald post game. “They’re a team that starts really well and we give up two early and obviously ones we would like to have back. But give our guys a lot of credit…we worked our way right back in.”

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Both teams scored powerplay goals, with Prince Albert going one for four and Saskatoon one for six. Armstrong’s OT winner came on the man advantage.

“We just can’t take that many penalties against a team with that good of a powerplay,” said Ritchie, who scored the lone Raider powerplay marker. “We’ve got to weather their storm early [in Game 4], they come out hard so I’d say a better start and discipline.”

Game 3 saw a near sell out crowd of 2,930 with standing room only.

Game 4 goes Wednesday night at the Art Hauser Centre before the series shifts back to Saskatoon for Game 5 Friday night.

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nolan.kowal@pattisonmedia.com