Nolan Maier picked up his first career playoff shutout as the Saskatoon Blades got a much-needed win in their playoff series against the Prince Albert Raiders.
Maier made 26 saves as the Blades blanked the Raiders 1-0 on Tuesday in Game 3 of their best-of-seven Western Hockey League (WHL) Eastern Conference semifinal.
The Raiders lead the series 2-1.
The lone goal in the game came at the 4:21 mark of the first period.
Kirby Dach pounced on a rebound in front of the Raiders net and put it past Ian Scott, who made 26 saves in the loss.
Blades head coach Mitch Love said it was an important win as they didn’t want to go down 3-0 to the Raiders.
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“We found a way to win a hockey game,” Love said.
“I’m sure they’ll be elevating their play even more (Wednesday), so we’re going to have to be even better than we thought we were tonight.”
WATCH BELOW: Post-game comments from Game 3 between the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders
Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid thought his team was better than in Sunday’s 3-2 win.
“We moved the puck well, our transition was good, we generated chances,” Habscheid said.
“The second period, (the Blades) never got out of their end for a while and the puck wouldn’t find its way in.”
Game 4 goes Wednesday night in Saskatoon, with Game 5 on Friday in Prince Albert.
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