Raiders Prevail in Third Period, Open W-H-L Pre-Season Schedule by Doubling Blades

Former Brandon Wheat King Jesiah Bennett, rookie Ryder Ritchie and sophomore Zachary Wilson all scored their second goal of the afternoon in the third period, snapping a 3-3 tie and propelling the Prince Albert Raiders to a 6-3 triumph over the Saskatoon Blades.

The game was played in front of a noisy and enthusiastic sold-out crowd at the brand-new Jim Neilson Sports Complex on the Big River First Nation. Through the first two periods, the teams traded goals with P-A taking a lead three times and the Bridge City Bunch responding to tie it up three times before the Raiders took over in the third frame. Prospect 16-year-old defenceman Fraser Leonard scored twice for the Blue and Gold, both of his shots beating starting Prince Albert goaltender Max Hildebrand high to his glove side. Lukas Hansen added the other Blades’ goal on a two-man advantage, finishing off the rebound of a Jayden Wiens’ shot that slipped in behind Raiders’ second netminder Cooper Anderson. Both teams dressed younger line-ups. Saskatoon’s average age for their 20 players was 16.55 while the Raiders’ average was 16.8 years old. Both teams dressed a handful or so of players who were regulars in the W-H-L last season. Both teams return to pre-season action on Friday with the Blades in Edmonton and Prince Albert at home to Regina. Following are Les Lazaruk’s post-game interviews with Lukas Hansen, Blades’ head coach Brennan Sonne and Raiders’ bench boss Jeff Truitt, plus the official game summary, courtesy the W-H-L…..