The Raiders celebrate Daxon Rudolph's 13th goal of the season that opened the scoring for the Raiders in a 5-4 win. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders win 5-4

Fireworks from start to finish as Raiders win third edition of Highway 11 rivalry

Dec 14, 2025 | 8:29 PM

With both teams coming into the game having played the previous two nights, and earning wins in both games, you might have expected a slow start between the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades on Sunday. Instead, the game was all gas no brakes from the very first minute, and the after back and forth lead changes the Raiders earned the 5-4 win.

In the very first minute, the captains set the tone as Justice Christensen and Tyler Parr dropped the gloves. Both men were strong, defensive fighters, so not many shots were thrown but the ones that did land were big, and both men went to the penalty box with a mutual show of respect after finishing the fight on their feet.

Then came one of the craziest minutes of the season.

From there, the Blades found the momentum first. At the 13:37 mark, Hayden Harsanyi scored when he sent a pass towards the back door looking for his teammate, but instead a Raiders defenceman trying to take the passing lane away accidentally deflected the puck into the back of the net and Harsanyi had opened the scoring.

At the 13:57 mark, the Blades scored again on the rush after the faceoff at centre. They quickly set up in the offensive zone and a shot from the point by Brayden Klimpke came through traffic. It was stopped, but the Kazden Mathies cleaned up the rebound to give the Blades the two goal lead.

Gradual warming trend next week

Snow squall watch in effect; March not coming in like a lion this year

1h ago

Crime prevention

Prince Albert police report spike in vehicle thefts

2h ago

Box cutter weapon

Man charged with aggravated assault that occurred in Cornerstone area

2h ago

Then at 14:32, just 55 seconds after the Blades opened the scoring, the Raiders got back to within one. Ty Meunier in the right corner helped work the puck to Evan Smith, and Smith sent a pass back to Daxon Rudolph at the right point. Rudolph came down the wall, then fired short side for his 13th of the season.

The Blades retook their two goal lead by the end of the period on a powerplay. At the 17:29 mark, Rowan Calvert won the faceoff back to Tristen Doyle, he walked into the middle of the blueline, and Doyle fired through traffic to put the Blades back up by two.

After 1: Raiders 1 – 3 Blades, shots 8-7 Blades

A scrum with one second left in the first period gave the Raiders their first powerplay of the game, but Brock Cripps was in the box. It worked out for the Raiders in the second though as Riley Boychuk worked the puck off the right wall, into the middle for Daxon Rudolph, and then over to the left point where Brayden Dube blasted a onetimer into the back of the net for his 11th of the season.

The Raiders started to take control through the second period, finding another gear to hem the Blades in their own zone. At the 9:25 mark, Ethan Bibeau helped collect the puck in his own zone and fed Brock Cripps, and Cripps went on the rush. Cripps went through the middle of the Blades blueline, sent the puck to Connor Howe on the right wall, and Howe fed Cripps streaking to the goal where Cripps tipped the puck in for his third of the season as he crashed into the wall.

Then after a bad luck goal against the Raiders to start the game, the Raiders got a bounce back to take the lead. The Raiders had the Blades hemmed in their own zone again, and the puck came back to the left point for Justice Christensen. He tried a hard pass across the blueline, but instead hit a stick, then a skate in the slot, and the puck went through the fivehole of an unsuspecting Evan Gardner to give Christensen his sixth of the season unassisted.

After 2: Raiders 4 – 3 Blades, shots 18-10 Raiders, 25-18 Raiders overall

A familiar face for the Blades quickly tied the game up in the third period. After the puck came to the left side point, former Raider Tyrone Sobry fired a shot that snuck around the screen in front and Sobry had his second of the season, then turned around and gave an emphatic yell right in front of his former team’s bench at the 2:20 mark.

The Raiders battled back though, and maybe the hardest working goal of the night would go down as the game winner. Linden Burrett gave the puck ahead to Riley Boychuk. He entered the offensive zone down the left and looked to the middle for Evan Smith. He tried a onetimer, but Smith’s first shot was disrupted by a defender. That lead to Smith digging for his own rebound, and a couple seconds later Smith batted the puck in the back of the net for his ninth of the season.

From there, it was the Dimitri Fortin show for the Raiders to close out the win. Despite giving up three goals on the first six shots of the game, Fortin was excellent in this entire game and his best work came in the final minute. Raiders on the penalty kill, Blades with a 6-on-4 advantage with the goaltender pulled, and Fortin had to stop a great onetimer from the left side half wall. Everyone crashed the net, and while Fortin was sprawled out on. his stomach, he kicked his left pad into the air to stop a great rebound shot, then found the loose puck in the scramble and covered it.

The Raiders won the next faceoff, and killed the final 15 seconds of the game in their own zone to earn a dramatic win against their Highway 11 rivals.

FINAL: Raiders 5 – 4 Blades, shots 10-8 Raiders, 35-26 Raiders overall

With the win, the Raiders extend their win streak to five games. The Raiders have also jumped over the Medicine Hat Tigers to take first place in the Eastern Conference, with two games in hand over the Tigers and one game in hand over the Edmonton Oil Kings sitting in third.

After 12 games, Maddix McCagherty’s point streak has come to an end after being held off the scoresheet. In his now six games as a Raider, he’s earned 3G-4A-7P.

The Raiders have two games left before the Christmas break, first on Wednesday in Regina against the Pats, and then on Friday at home against the Kelowna Rockets.