Evan Smith (left) and Brock Cripps look to an off camera Ben Harvey after Cripps scored off a Harvey rebound. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders win 7-1

Raiders stomp over Blades in third preseason matchup

Sep 5, 2025 | 10:36 PM

The first half of the preseason is officially in the books after the Prince Albert Raiders hosted the Saskatoon Blades for the third meeting between the two clubs in the same week. This game saw a more veteran heavy presence from both teams, and the Raiders took advantage with a big 7-1 win.

Both teams started off with a few back and forth chances but the Raiders started to pull away in the shot department early. It wasn’t until 11:47 when Ben Harvey put a shot towards the goal, but it hit a stick and went wide off the glass. The puck came back out front for a streaking Evan Smith, and he potted the rebound to get the Raiders on the board.

Harvey had a similar assist on the second goal of the game when he took a shot from the point, but this time it went over the net, hit the glass, and came out to the side of the goal. Brock Cripps snuck in from the right point, and he put the rebound off the back of the goaltender to double the Raiders lead at 15:44.

At the 19:43 mark, Max Heise was kicked out of the faceoff circle to the right wing, and once the puck dropped he skated in to gain position. He had to fight for the puck through a mess of bodies until he escaped to the left side of the slot, but instead of shooting he dropped it back to Justice Christensen in the middle to fire a shot through traffic into the back of the net.

After 1: Raiders 3 – 0 Blades, shots 12-6 Raiders

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The Raiders continued the onslaught at the 4:18 mark when Matyas Man tried to dump the puck in from outside the blueline, but it hit a body and bounced right into the path of Riley Boychuk. The Boychuk skated into the middle, using the defender as a screen, and he ripped his wrist shot into the net from distance.

At 7:48, the Raiders got a beauty from the local Connor Howe on the rush. He skated in on the right side, and he made a great toe drag to bring the puck around the defender, then brought it back to his forehand in tight to get a shot away for his second goal of the preseason.

At the 12:43, the Blades got their lone tally of the game. After cycling in the zone for an extended time, and the puck came loose to the left point for Jack Kachkowski. He sent a great pass through the middle to Colton Worthington, and he tipped it into the back of the net.

Before the end of the period, the Raiders added one more. Owen Corkish caused a scramble in front as he sent the puck to the front of the net on a wraparound, and both he and Aiden Oiring got a whack at it before Jonah Sivertson cleaned up the loose change at 19:16.

After 2: Raiders 6 – 1 Blades, shots 13-8 Raiders, 25-14 Raiders overall

In the third period, the Raiders added one more on the powerplay. At 8:42, Ben Harvey worked the puck up the wall to Brock Cripps at the right point. He skated to the middle, then sent the puck to Justice Christensen who ripped his patented slapshot into the back of the net to give the Raiders a 7-1 lead.

In net, Dimitri Fortin stopped nine of the ten shots he faced, only letting in the last shot he faced, while Steele Bass cleaned up the rest of the eight shots Saskatoon managed.

FINAL: Raiders 7 – 1 Blades, shots 16-4 Raiders, 41-18 Raiders overall

The Raiders and Blades will do battle in the preseason one last time on Saturday at the Legends Centre in Warman.