Raiders finish three games in three nights with electric win in Saskatoon

At the 9:00 mark, Christensen continued to lead his team by example. Just after the Raiders second powerplay had ended, Brayden Dube cycled the puck to the left of the goaltender for Ty Meunier, and he put a great pass to the slot for Christensen who ripped the puck under the cross bar for his 14th of the year.

Two more fights happened before the end of the period, Linden Burrett dropped the gloves with David Lewandowski, and right at the end of the period Rilen Kovacevic would go with Frantisek Dej, creating all sorts of adrenaline for the third period.

After 2: Raiders 1 – 1 Blades, shots 12-6 Blades

Calvert scored on the powerplay again at the 3:27 mark when he recieved a pass at the side of the goal and made a power move to his forehand before lifting it into the back of the net. Not only did the goal give the Blades the lead again, it also tied Calvert with Tomas Mrsic for the league lead in powerplay goals at 14.

Mrsic has scored another ten goals at even strength though, and at the 9:41 mark of the third Dube would steal a pass in the defensive zone and give the puck to Mrsic for a 2-on-1. Mrsic fired a wrist shot from the left, scoring his 28th of the year.

The Raiders then got a bounce, or four technically, and took the lead at the 11:45 mark. Daxon Rudolph helped hold the puck at centre as the Blades tried to break out, and he sent it ahead for Jackson Kostiuk, who then fed Riley Boychuk on the right. Using a defender as a screen, Boychuk fired a shot that went off the defender’s stick, off the ice, the top of the goaltender’s pad, cross bar, and in, giving the Raiders their first lead and Boychuk his ninth of the season.

At the 14:11 mark, the Blades tied it. With a screen in front of the Raiders goal, Grayden Siepmann would fire a shot that was tipped in tight by Tyler Parr to find the back of the net and send this game to overtime.

After 3: Raiders 3 – 3 Blades, shots 13-12 Blades, 35-26

In overtime, the Raiders got possession first and controlled the first minute, but the Blades took the puck on a faceoff in their own zone and managed possession for the next two minutes.

The Blades were trying to cycle the puck in the offensive zone but the combination of Harrison Lodewyk and Rilen Kovacevic stripped them of the puck on the wall. Kovacevic took the puck down the right side of the ice and faked a toedrag around a defender to drop the puck to Lodewyk. His wrist shot was stopped, but Lodewyk found his rebound and sent a pass of from below the goal line to a streaking Christensen, and he ended it with huge slap shot into the back of the net for his second of the game.

FINAL (OT): Raiders 4 – 3 Blades, shots 2-1 Raiders, 36-28 overall

With his 28th goal of the season, Tomas Mrsic reached his 150th point in the WHL. In the three games this weekend, Mrsic has put up 2G-4A in three games. Together with his linemates of Aiden Oiring and Brayden Dube, the unit combined for 5G-10A.

Daxon Rudolph picked up an assist to extend his point streak to twelve games, the longest by a rookie in the WHL this season. In that span, Rudolph has 2G-13A.

The Raiders pick up five of a possible six points through three games in three nights, taking sole possession of first in the East Division and now leading the Blades by a full two points. Despite a loss in the shootout Saturday, the Raiders now have points in their last seven games with six wins in that time.

The next game for the Raiders is this coming Wednesday when they welcome the Regina Pats for a rematch from Saturday.

by Nick Nielsen

Raiders finish three games in three nights with electric win in Saskatoon

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