PREVIEW: Oil Kings @ Prince Albert Raiders 3.8.24
MARCH 8, 2024 – ART HAUSER CENTRE – 6:00 PM
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2023-24 Schedule vs. Prince Albert
Tuesday, Oct 3 @ Prince Albert (3-0 EDM)
Saturday, Oct 7 @ Edmonton (4-1 SC)
Friday, Jan 19 @ Edmonton (6-4 EDM)
Friday, March 8 @ Prince Albert
Matchup Notes
Tonight marks the 4th meeting of the year between the 2 clubs. Edmonton has won 2 of the previous 3 contests.
Gavin Hodnett leads all Oil Kings in scoring with 4 points (0G, 4A), while Niall Crocker (3G, 0A) leads the way for the Raiders in the head to head with three points.
All-time, the Oil Kings and Raiders have met 65 times in the regular season with the Oil Kings holding a record of 32-23-6-4.
Coming In
The Oil Kings are coming off of an 8-2 loss in Swift Current on Wednesday night.
Edmonton had troubles in their own end in the opening period, which led to a pair of early goals off of unfortunate bounces from behind their net. Gavin Hodnett would answer back less than a minute after the Broncos 2nd goal for his 18th of the year. Swift Current Forward Connor Hvidston would bury the eventual game winner with less than 3 minutes left in the opening period. Oil Kings Goalie Hudson Perry did everything he could to provide momentum in the opening frame.
Swift Current would add one goal in the 2nd frame, on a knuckleball-type shot through a fly-by screen to make it 4-1. The shots were 25-14 through 40 minutes in favor of the Broncos.
The doors would blow wide open in period 3, as the relentless Swift Current pressure continued piling on 4 more goals while Broncos Goalie Reid Dyck stymied the Oil Kings shooters. Edmonton would add another on a 5-on-3 powerplay when Cole Miller took a pass in the high slot and zipped it into the top corner for his 8th of the season.
The loss will be Edmonton’s 3rd in 4 meetings vs the Broncos this season. They will play one more time on March 17th in Edmonton.
EOK Notables
● The Oil Kings loss vs the Broncos on Wednesday (coupled with the Hurricanes win) has officially eliminated them from the 2023/24 Western Hockey League playoff race.
● The Raiders are one of two teams the Oil Kings hold a winning record against in their head to head matchup in the 2023/24 season, for teams they have played more than once. Regina is the other (3-1).
● Oil Kings defenceman Marc Lajoie sits 12th in defenceman points (48), 2nd in defenceman goals (20), 1st in defenceman PP goals (11) and 6th in defenceman PP points (26) in the WHL. His 11 power play goals rank tied for 6th overall in the entire WHL amongst all skaters.
● Oil Kings defenceman Marc Lajoie is in 5th for the most career power play goals by an Oil Kings defenceman in franchise history with 11 trailing only Griffin Reinhart (12), Cody Corbett (12), Aaron Irving (13) and Conner McDonald (14).
PA Notables
● Raiders Forward Sloan Stanick is 3 goals shy (28) of his career high (31) through 61 games played.
● Raiders Forward Krzysztof Macias sits 6th in the Western Hockey League in rookie goal scoring with 22 through 57 games played.
Milestone Watch
● F Smyth Rebman is 4 games away from 100 career WHL games.
● F Ty Nash is 9 assists away from 100 career WHL assists.
● D Marc Lajoie is 5 assists away from 100 career WHL assists.
● F Skyler Bruce is 3 goals away from 50 career WHL goals.
Lineup Report
● D Ethan MacKenzie, upper-body, week-to-week (Games missed: 41)
● F Presley Kerner, lower-body, week-to-week (Games missed: 10)
● F Skyler Bruce, lower-body, day-to-day (Games missed: 9)
Streaks
● D Marc Lajoie is on a 3-game point streak (1g-3a-4pts).
● F Gavin Hodnett is on a 2-game point streak (2g-0a-2pts).
● F Roan Woodward is on a 2-game point streak (2g-1a-3pts).
Who’s Hot
● F Marshall Finnie has 6 points (3G, 3A) in his last 8 games.
● F Ty Nash has 22 points (6G, 16A) in his last 21 games.
● F Smyth Rebman has 7 points (3G, 4A) in his last 10 games.
● F Gracyn Sawchyn has 19 points (4G, 15A) in his last 18 games.
● F Gavin Hodnett has 13 points (5G, 8A) in his last 13 games.