A pair of 17-year-olds paced the Saskatoon Blades to an upset 1-0 victory Sunday over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders.
Rookie centre Tristen Robins (pictured) touched off the “Teddy Bear Toss” with what turned out to be the only goal at 5:14 of the second period and goaltender Nolan Maier made it stand up with 32 saves, 14 of them in the third period, as the Bridge City Bunch handed the C-H-L’s top team their first regulation time loss since October 6…ending a 21-0-1 run since then.
“That’s pretty amazing,” said Robins of scoring the only goal in a victory over P.A., causing an eight-minute delay in the proceedings as 6,334 fans littered the SaskTel Centre ice with teddy bears and stuffies of all shapes, sizes and varieties. “I really took a lot out of that experience, it was super fun and I was lucky enough to get a good bounce there.”
Robins picked up a loose puck at centre and moved in 2-on-1 before picking the high, glove side on Raiders’ goaltender Ian Scott.
At the other end, Maier collected his second shutout of the season and fourth of his W-H-L career, making several heart-stopping saves in the third frame.
“It felt awesome,” said Maier of the game ending with a Blue and Gold win and a shutout for himself. “The guys played really well in front of me and, also, I was able to make some saves that I needed to. I think it was a combination of a really positive group effort and it showed.”
The loss dropped Prince Albert to 28-2-1…still 16 points ahead of the second place Blades, at 19-10-3, in the East Division. Saskatoon doesn’t get much time to savour the success as they host the Edmonton Oil Kings Tuesday at 7 p.m. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Prince Albert Raiders 0 at Saskatoon Blades 1 – Status: Final
Sunday, December 9, 2018 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Prince Albert 0 0 0 – 0
Saskatoon 0 1 0 – 1
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Wouters Sas (kneeing), 5:01; Wouters Sas (slashing), 10:02; Kneen Sas (kneeing), 12:46; Gerlach Sas (tripping), 16:41; Martin Pa (hooking), 17:57.
2nd Period-1, Saskatoon, Robins 5 (Kneen), 5:14. Penalties-Masella Pa (hooking), 12:02; Huber Sas (boarding), 15:00.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Pachal Pa (boarding), 4:11; Masella Pa (tripping), 5:39.
Shots on Goal-Prince Albert 10-8-14-32. Saskatoon 10-6-11-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Prince Albert 0 / 5; Saskatoon 0 / 4.
Goalies-Prince Albert, Scott 23-2-0-1 (27 shots-26 saves). Saskatoon, Maier 15-8-2-0 (32 shots-32 saves).
A-6,334
Referees-Karlin Krieger (27), Colin Watt (72).
Linesmen-Joel Beresh (122), Travis Toomey (133).
