Raiders playoffs
The St. Albert Nektar staved off elimination in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs with a determined effort against the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers.
Brad Adams and Noah Kramps opened the scoring as the Raiders peppered netminder Sebastian Cossa with 45 shots in Wednesday’s 3-1 decision at Akinsdale Arena.
Game four in the best-of-five north division final was played Friday in Fort Saskatchewan and the score was unavailable at press time.
A victory by the Raiders would force Sunday’s deciding game at 7:45 p.m. at Akinsdale.
The winner plays the Calgary Buffaloes or Calgary Royals in the best-of-five AMHL final and the provincial champion hosts the best-of-three Pacific Region national qualifier for the Telus Cup, April 22 to 28 at Thunder Bay, Ont.
The south division final is tied at two and game five is set for tonight.
Overtime losses last weekend of 4-3 in the first extra period at Akinsdale and 3-2 in the third OT frame at Fort Saskatchewan as the Rangers capitalized on the power play for both game winners set the stage for Wednesday’s must-win game for the Raiders.
The Mac’s Cup champions responded with goals by Adams at 5:21 of the first period and Kramps capitalized with the man advantage at 4:35 of the second.
The Rangers cut the lead in half with 6:56 left in the middle frame.
Eric Perneel’s empty netter with 20 seconds remaining sealed the deal and Carson Henry picked up his second assist of the night.
The Rangers directed 16 shots at Cossa (5-1, 1.65 GAA) in the third while Evan Fradette (4-2, 1.81 GAA) of the Raiders faced 30 shots overall in his sixth consecutive playoff start.
The Raiders (19-11-4, 116 GF/92 GA) and Rangers (19-13-2, 106 GF/94 GA) finished first and second, respectively, in the north standings and in league play the teams split two games with the visitors winning.
Crusaders playoffs
Ronin Pusch’s overtime heroics and Cole Crozier’s stellar netminding propelled the St. Albert Source for Sports Crusaders into the final four playoff round in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League.
Pusch’s playoff-leading ninth goal and 17th point ended the suspense with 51 seconds left in the second OT period in Tuesday’s 4-3 thriller against the Sturgeon Sting in the Besa division tournament final at JRC Arena.
Visit www.StAlbertToday.ca for the overtime celebration picture.
Maddux Nollski assisted on Pusch’s goal after knotting the count at three with an unassisted effort on the power play halfway through the third period.
Matthew Reidy and Cuyler Matheson also scored and Pusch added an assist as the Crusaders finished the playoff tournament with a record of 5-0-1.
Crozier (2-0, 3.40 GAA) stopped eight shots in 24 minutes of OT for 42 saves overall while the Crusaders registered 11 shots in sudden death and 36 in total.
Tyson Mallet, Cache Schiller and Sean Mitchell tallied for the Sting, 3-2-1 in the tournament, and Royce Watson (1-1-1, 2.94 GAA) was between the pipes.
In the Besa standings, the Crusaders (26-4-2) were first as the top NAMHL team and the Sting (20-10-2) placed second.
The Crusaders, the defending NAMHL champions, will face off against the Canadian Athletic Club (13-18-1) of the Anderson division in the best-of-three Metro conference final.
Sunday’s series opener starts 5 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
Game two is 8:30 p.m. Monday at Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre and game three, if needed, is 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Go Auto Arena.
The winner plays the Camrose Vikings (19-9-4) or Whitecourt Wolverines (10-16-6) in the best-of-five NAMHL final.
Royals playoffs
Game three in the semifinal series between the St. Albert Royals and SSAC Dolce Vita Homes in the Rural & Edmonton Midget 15AA Hockey League was cancelled Thursday because of an ammonia leak at Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre.
The next game in the best-of-five playoff is 8 p.m. tonight at Akinsdale Arena.
The Royals lead the series with victories of 6-3 last Saturday at Akinsdale and 3-2 Wednesday at Castledowns Arena.
Angke He’s second goal of the night was the game two winner at 8:24 of the third period.
Kaelan Shelton also scored as the Royals outshot SSAC 34-33 in support of netminder Jack Robinson (3-0, 2.00 GAA).
If another game is required in the series, it will be played at 8:15 p.m. Monday at Millwoods Arena.
In the 11-team standings, the Royals (23-3-4) placed second and SSAC (16-8-6) was fourth.
The winner plays the first-place Hockey Central Panthers (24-1-5) or seventh-place Red Deer Chiefs (14-14-2) in the best-of-five final.
Last year’s Royals lost three in a row to the Panthers for the championship.
