Saskatoon earned a split of their opening weekend series with Prince Albert thanks to overtime heroics from Brayden Klimpke in the Blades' 3-2 overtime win over the Raiders.
Rowan Calvert brought most of the 9,904 fans assembled at SaskTel Centre to their feet, scoring a pair of goals to give Saskatoon a 2-0 lead heading into the third period.
Prince Albert poured it on in the third period, and Brayden Dube scored twice to force extra time.
In overtime, Prince Albert would win the opening faceoff to claim possession of the puck. However, after possessing the puck for over a minute, the Raiders’ rookie defenceman, Brock Cripps, would lose an edge, allowing Saskatoon to break out of their end 3-on-2. With the puck on Klimke’s stick entering the offensive zone, he would pass the puck in front to Hayden Harsanyi in the slot. Raiders goaltender Dmitri Fortin stopped his shot, but the rebound spilled to Klimpke at the side of the net, who slipped the puck five-hole for the victory.
Prince Albert outshot the Blades 26-22 in the contest, and both teams went 1-for-3 on the power play on the night.
The Blades are off until Friday when they head to Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers.
The Raiders return to action on Friday in Regina when they take on the Pats.
