RECAP: Americans (3) @ Raiders (5) – November 15
Prince Albert, SK – Tri-City Americans (13-4-1-0) battled back from a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the third period, but costly penalties saw the Prince Albert Raiders (7-8-2-0) score three power play goals and end the Americans winning streak at 12 with a 5-3 win at the Art Hauser Centre Friday night.
It was a tough start for Tri-City as the Raiders jumped ahead to a 1-0 lead just 43 seconds into the game. Tomas Mrsic took a pass in his own zone before skating all the way up the ice and wiring a shot over the glove of Nathan Preston for his ninth of the year.
The score remained 1-0 until five minutes remaining in the first when Prince Albert extended the lead. Dayce Derkatch let a shot go from the slot that was tipped by Ethan Bibeau, pushing the Raider lead to 2-0.
The Americans went to the power play shortly after the goal was gave them a jolt as they racked up shots on net but weren’t able to cut into the Prince Albert lead heading into the intermission.
The second period saw more back and forth play, but Tri-City had trouble stringing together strong shifts while the Raiders had plenty of good scoring looks, including hitting two cross bars in the period.
Trailing 2-0 heading into the third, Jake Sloan scored just 25 seconds into the third to cut the Raiders lead in half. Sloan carried the puck into the Prince Albert zone on a two-on-one rush before snapping a shot over the glove of Hildebrand.
Four and a half minutes later a turnover by Prince Albert ended up in the back of the net. Nick Anisimovicz intercepted a pass in the slot before working the puck to the net. It deflected off two Raider sticks before floating over the head of Hildebrand and into the net to tie the game at two.
Tri-City then took their first lead of the night with 8:55 remaining. Brandon Whynott had the puck in the right circle of the Raider zone before ripping a shot on goal, beating Hildebrand past the blocker for his 12th of the season, giving the Americans a 3-2 lead.
The lead didn’t last long as penalty trouble arose for Tri-City just moments after the goal. Harrison Loedwyk carried the puck into the Americans zone and powered his way to the net, knocking Preston over in the process.
No penalty was called against Prince Albert but Terrell Goldsmith took exception to the play, knocking Loedwyk down with multiple crosschecks. As a result Goldsmith was given a double minor for cross checking sending the Raiders to a four-minute power play.
Tri-City got through nearly three minutes of the kill before a failed clear ended up in the back of the net. An Americans clearing attempt hit the body of a Raider and stayed in the zone. Seconds later Krzysztof Macias took a rink-wide pass and tied the game at three with 5:49 remaining.
Just over a minute later Cash Koch was given a five-minute major for a check to the head penalty, giving Prince Albert’s dangerous power play the opening they needed to win the game.
Mrsic let a long shot go from the blue line that tipped off a stick and went over the crowd in front, landing in the back of the net to put the Raiders ahead 4-3 with three minutes to play.
The Americans pulled Preston for the extra attacker late, but Mrsic completed his hat trick by hitting the empty net, ending the Americans win streak.
Tri-City looks to get back on track as they face the Saskatoon Blades (12-5-1-1) at the Sasktel Centre Saturday night.
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