Raiders frustrated once again after Blades’ Maier ‘stood on his head’

“Their goaltender played good again. Give him credit. He stood on his head, especially in the second period.” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said of Maier.

Maier made 21 saves on 22 shots in the opening period alone. But perhaps the biggest save he made in the game was on Raiders forward Cole Fonstad early in the second period. Fonstad found himself in close on a sharp angle, and Maier got just enough of it to send Fonstad’s shot trickling across the goal line.

“I think Nolan’s playing his best hockey right now, which is what we need to win the championship,” said Blades forward Max Gerlach, who had a goal and two assists in the game. “Obviously, you can’t say enough about him. He’s an unbelievable goalie, hasn’t been getting the credit he should. He’s one of the best goalies in the nation. He’s our backbone and we’re happy to have him.”

The only Raider to score on Maier in the past two games is Dante Hannoun. In the first period, Hannoun beat Maier on the back-hand deke shorthanded, after Parker Kelly intercepted a pass and found Hannoun in front.

“I thought we created a lot of chances, but we have to bear down on our next ones,” Hannoun said. “I think we just got to be stronger on our second and third opportunities.”

Gerlach opened the scoring on the power play midway through the second period, and Tristen Robins scored the eventual game winner just 1:11 after on a Raiders’ miscue in their own zone.

Kyle Crnkovic scored the insurance goal late in the third, with Eric Florchuk getting an empty netter.

Blades defenceman Dawson Davidson had three assists in the contest.

More Raids-Blades series drama

The Raiders are heading back to the Art Hauser Centre on Friday for Game 5 with a bad taste in their mouths, and it’s not just the last two defeats.

“It was interesting. At the end of the game, our guys took notice that they were taunting us and making motions to us,” Habscheid said. “We will be ready on Friday. That just fueled us.”

“They skated by our bench and mocked us,” Hannoun said. “We’re not going to forget that.”

The Blades don’t see it the same way.

“Tonight, I thought we did a really good job at staying out of the crap after the whistle,” Gerlach said. “When we don’t engage with them after the whistle, I think they don’t know what to do about that. If we can stay away from them after the whistle, making sure we’re not taking any penalties, we’ll be just fine.”

Out of all four regular season games and the two playoff games so far, the Blades have yet to win in the Art Hauser Centre this season.

“I think we learned from Game 2,” Maier said of that narrow 3-2 defeat on Sunday. “We can play in that rink, we know we can. I think it’s about holding that lead for the whole game and not letting them have momentum so their crowd can get into it.”

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Dante Hannoun from Parker Kelly (shorthanded), 11:15

Second Period

1-1, Blades, Max Gerlach from Ryan Hughes and Dawson Davidson (power play), 12:02

2-1, Blades, Tristen Robins from Max Gerlach and Riley McKay, 13:13

Third Period

3-1, Blades, Kyle Crnkovic from Max Gerlach and Dawson Davidson, 16:18

4-1, Blades, Eric Florchuk from Chase Wouters and Dawson Davidson (empty net), 17:53

Looking ahead

The Raiders will host the Blades on Friday, 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. Tickets go on sale on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. Game 6 will be back at the SaskTel Centre on Sunday at 4 p.m.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW

by Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders frustrated once again after Blades’ Maier ‘stood on his head’

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