Raiders Doubled Up By Warriors
Prince Albert, SK – The Prince Albert Raiders (34-4-0-1) were back at full strength on Friday night, but fell 4-2 to the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors (21-8-5-1) at the Art Hauser Centre.
Brett Leason and Ian Scott made their return to the Raiders lineup following their time with Team Canada at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship. Dante Hannoun also made his Raider debut after being acquired by the team on Thursday.
Moose Jaw got the game’s first goal on a power play at the 6:58 mark of the opening frame. Josh Brook’s point shot was tipped by Tristin Langan in front. Scott made the initial save, but Langan was able to bury his own rebound to put his team ahead.
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Just before the end of the period, the Raiders responded with a power-play goal of their own. Ozzy Wiesblatt converted on a cross-ice pass from Aliaksei Protas with 24.6 seconds to go in the opening frame, making it a 1-1 game at the intermission.
The Warriors regained their lead with 7:55 to play in the second. Near the end of a Raiders’ power play, Langan and Justin Almeida broke into the Raiders’ end. After Almeida’s attempt was denied by Scott, he collected the puck and fed it front of the net where Langan tapped in his second of the contest.
The Raiders scored their second goal in the final minute of a period late in the second. Zack Hayes dropped a pass to Spencer Moe, who found Brayden Pachal across the ice. Pachal skated into the slot and picked the corner on the near side to tie the game at 2-2 after two periods.
At the 7:31 mark of the third, Moose Jaw pulled ahead for good. Just after a two-man advantage expired, Brayden Tracey cut in front of the goal and tucked the puck inside the far post to give the Warriors a 3-2 advantage.
Spencer Moe had a great opportunity to tie the game, but was unable to beat a sprawling Brodan Salmond. After collecting his own rebound, he couldn’t lift the puck over the Warriors netminder on his first attempt and sent his second over the net.
Langan completed his hat trick for Moose Jaw with a goal into the empty-net marker with 10 seconds remaining.
In his return to the Raiders’ lineup, Scott made 27 saves for just his third regulation loss of the year. Salmond stopped 38 shots at the other end of the ice.
The Raiders are back at it on Saturday night when the Saskatoon Blades (24-11-5-0) visit the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop is 7 p.m. Tickets are available at raiderhockey.com and the Raider Office.