Late Push Not Enough As Oil Kings Drop Game 4
Goals were at a premium Wednesday night as two were enough for Prince Albert to edge the Oil Kings and even the series at two.
Brett Leason had his first say in the series for the Raiders and Ian Scott was near perfect, holding strong on a late Edmonton push for the 2-1 win.
“My message to (the team) was we weren’t very good tonight,” admitted head coach Brad Lauer. “But we were still right there at the end. If we bring our best game we’ll be fine.”
Raiders’ Leason broke the deadlock that lasted nearly half the game at the 13:01 mark of the second period off a turnover with a shot blocker side on Oil Kings goalie Dylan Myskiw.
The score sat one nil with shots limited to 17-15, Prince Albert after forty minutes.
Noah Gregor doubled the Raiders lead just over two minutes into the third period off a broken play that found him first to the puck in front of Myskiw.
“I’m not sure if it’s physicality (that needs to change),” said defenceman Parker Gavlas. “It’s just our game plan. We didn’t really do a whole lot of that tonight.”
Edmonton made things interesting with a late push started by a Wyatt McLeod goal from the point with six minutes to play.
Quinn Benjafield picked up the lone assist.
With Myskiw on the bench for the final 90 seconds, the Oil Kings poured chances on the Raiders netminder, but Scott repeatedly shut door securing the 2-1 series tying victory.
“I think we were maybe missing a little of a step compared to (last) night,” said Wyatt McLeod. “We had a tough time getting it going at the start. Our push at the end there was a little bit too late.”
“Did we think we were going to win three, four in row against these guys? Probably not,” said Lauer. “We missed the opportunity to take advantage of the series so we have to go back there and get another win.”
Game five goes in Prince Albert at the Art Hauser Centre Friday, April 26 at 7:00 PM MT with game six back at Rogers Place Sunday, April 28 at 2:00 PM MT.
Three Stars:
#1: Noah Gregor – GWG
#2: Ian Scott – 25 Saves
#3: Dylan Myskiw – 25 Saves
Game 1: Friday, April 19 – Edmonton (0) at Prince Albert (1)
Game 2: Saturday, April 20 – Edmonton(4) at Prince Albert (3) – OT
Game 3: Tuesday, April 23 – Prince Albert (1) at Edmonton(5)
Game 4: Wednesday, April 24 – Prince Albert(2) at Edmonton (1)
Game 5: Friday, April 26 – Edmonton at Prince Albert – 7:00 PM MT
Game 6: Sunday, April 28 – Prince Albert at Edmonton – 2:00 PM MT
*Game 7: Tuesday, April 30 – Edmonton at Prince Albert – 7:00 PM MT
(*if necessary)
Tickets for game six can be purchased online at oilkings.ca on Thursday at 10:00 AM MT.
Oil Kings Playoff Passes are on sale now. Purchase your pass and secure the same great seat for every home game of the playoffs. The more we play, the less you pay! Playoff Passes are just $79/seat and can be purchased here.
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