Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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Saskatoon Blades fans were treated to a new goal song on Saturday night, as ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ by Ramones played on repeat at SaskTel Centre.
A five-goal performance struck the right chord with the 7,379 fans on hand for Saskatoon’s home opener, as the Blades left the ice with a decisive 5-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders.
“The new goal song was a hit and the crowd was into it all night long,” said Blades head coach Dan DaSilva.
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Saskatoon overcame an early 1-0 deficit when Prince Albert’s Riley Boychuk scored just 1:49 into the game, then netted four straight goals in the second and third periods to sweep their weekend home-and-home series against the Raiders.
The two wins snapped Saskatoon’s nine-game losing streak against Prince Albert, dating back to last season’s playoffs and regular-season meetings.
“The hockey this weekend, it felt like playoffs and just great tests,” DaSilva said.
“I think both games probably could have went either way, but we’re excited. It’s been a long time since we had a weekend series sweep against them and it feels good right now.”
Overage forward Hunter Laing continued his blazing start to the 2026-27 season with his fourth and fifth goals on the year, and said it was a stellar feeling post-game in the Blades locker room.
“The vibes are good, the boys love beating P.A.,” Laing said.
“They’re our rivals, so it’s always nice beating them and we owe them from last year still. It was nice to get the win, we’re going to reset and focus for next week.”
Left winger David Lewandowski racked up a goal and an assist for Saskatoon on Saturday, boosting his totals to four points in just two games since returning to the team from Edmonton Oilers training camp.
While it’s his third season in the Western Hockey League, Saturday’s game marked Lewandowski’s first home opener with the Blades, which he said he wanted to make the most of.
“It was pretty fun being in our barn again today and beat them twice in a row,” Lewandowski said. “It’s just good to be back. Seeing the crowd, seeing the boys win again, it’s fun.”
Prince Albert jumped out to their early first period lead with a rebound kicked out to Boychuk, which was buried past Blades goaltender Martin Psohlavec, who made the first home start of his WHL career.
That one-goal lead for the Raiders carried over to the second period, but it was Saskatoon which capitalized with an early period goal of their own.
On a give-and-go rush up the ice, Lewandowski threaded the puck over to Hayden Harsanyi, who beat Prince Albert sophomore netminder Michal Orsulak for his first goal of the season to even the score at 1-1.
Saskatoon took their first lead of the night with 5:13 to go in the second period on a jam play at the side of the Raiders net on a scramble, which was knocked home by Laing to put the Blades in front through 40 minutes.
Saskatoon Blades goaltender Martin Psohlavec (centre) made 24 saves on 26 shots to pick up the first home win of his WHL career on Sept. 26, 2026 (Steve Hiscock / Saskatoon Blades)
Nearly two and a half minutes into the third period, the Blades continued to capitalize on Prince Albert rebounds with Lewandowski on the doorstep to record his fourth point of the weekend.
“(Lewandowski) really gave us a boost this weekend,” Laing said. “He’s a heck of a player, he’s a hard worker, does everything right and we’re lucky to have him back.”
Forward Konstantin Hutzinger picked up his first WHL point on the 3-1 goal for Saskatoon, as his shot was redirected to Lewandowski in the slot.
The power play finally clicked for the Blades midway through the third period, as Laing took a feed down low from Cooper Williams and shifted the puck to his forehand before he netted his second goal of the game past Orsulak.
Prince Albert forward Connor Howe closed the gap on the power play to 4-2 with just over five minutes left, but the Blades sealed the win with a shorthanded, empty net goal from Kazden Mathies in the final seconds.
DaSilva thought it was their most complete effort through four games and believed the Blades rose to the occasion in front of their home fans Saturday.
“I thought our guys put on a good show,” DaSilva said. “I don’t mean like toe-dragging and making cute plays. We just went out there, we worked and when we played our game, I thought that we were the better team.”
Laing sits atop the WHL goal scoring race with five tallies in four games, though he said there’s plenty of runway to go this season.
“I put the work in this summer,” Laing said. “I’m playing with good line mates and everything is clicking right now, but it’s only four games in the season. I got to keep my head down and keep working.”
It wasn’t just goal scoring for Laing on Saturday night however, as he dropped the mitts at centre ice with Vegas Golden Knights prospect Jonah Sivertson for a tilt which lasted all of three seconds.
According to DaSilva though, it was part of a big night for Laing who helps pull the team into the fight.
“He just looks more determined to prove that he belongs at the next level next year,” DaSilva said.
“He’s winning his puck battles, he’s hard on pucks, he’s more competitive. Obviously he had the fight at the start of the game too to try to set the tone early. I really like where his game is at right now.”
In his first home start, Psohlavec made 24 saves on 26 shots after he posted a 26-save night in his WHL debut in Prince Albert on Friday.
Now with six days off until their next game, the Blades will look to build on the confidence they showed in their home-and-home series against Prince Albert.
Lewandowski said they can’t get too far ahead of themselves with 64 regular season games to go.
“I hope it carries the whole season,” Lewandowski said. “We look game after game, we don’t look what it’s going to be at the end of the season. We go game after game and then we’ll see.”
The Blades (2-1-1) return to the ice on Friday night when they host the Red Deer Rebels at 7 p.m.
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