Article content
Blades 4, Raiders 3 (OT)
It took only 23 seconds of overtime for Easton Armstrong to complete a hat-trick and give the visiting Saskatoon Blades a 4-3 win over the Prince Albert Raiders on Tuesday night.
Article content
“I had the whole net,” said Armstrong during a post-game interview with Blades play-by-play broadcaster Les Lazaruk. “Wonger (Trevor Wong) passed back-door to me; it was an awesome pass.”
Article content
With the win, Saskatoon takes a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Hockey League Eastern Conference quarter-final series.
“It’s playoff hockey,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne. “Back-and-forth … Fast paced … So entertaining.”
Game 4 of the series goes Wednesday night in Prince Albert at Art Hauser Centre.
Game 5 is slated back in Saskatoon on Friday, 7 p.m., at SaskTel Centre.
Armstrong’s third goal came on the power play with Raiders forward Sloan Stanick sitting in the box for a tripping penalty.
“We prepare for overtime all season, actually, overtime in playoffs,” noted Sonne. “We do it in drills. We talked about it the other day.
“(Armstrong) goes to the net — those are big moments. They’re important moments in the series, important moments in the game. You have to have the poise and the confidence and trust each other to get it done.”
It was Saskatoon’s lone power play goal in the game, going 1-for-6 overall.
Prince Albert was 1-for-4.
Trevor Wong also scored for Saskatoon, which led 2-0 and 3-2 by periods.
Krzysztof Macias, Ryder Ritchie and Aiden Oiring replied for Prince Albert, which was outshot 35-21.
Evan Gardner made 18 saves for the win.
Max Hildebrand stopped 31 shots in the loss.
“They’re not going anywhere — it’s a playoff series, like a true playoff series,” Sonne said of the resilient Raiders. “I’ve seen it before … There are times when you see teams, like, ‘oh, we’re going to phone it in; it’s over’ or whatever. That’s not the case here, at all.
“We know we’re in for one and we’ve got to prepare ourselves for one (Wednesday).”
Recommended from Editorial
Share this article in your social network
