Raiders Fall in Shootout to Warriors
Regina, SK – It was a goaltending duel in the Subway Hub Centre at the Brandt Centre in Regina on Sunday night.
The Prince Albert Raiders (1-0-0-1) fell 2-1 in a shootout to the Moose Jaw Warriors (2-0-0-0).
Carter Serhyenko was stellar between the pipes for the Raiders, stopping 24 shots and keeping his team alive in overtime. At the other end, Boston Bilous made 27 saves and stopped two of three Raiders in the shootout to backstop the Warriors to the win.
Kaiden Guhle scored the lone goal in regulation for the Raiders. Brayden Yager tallied the winning goal in the shootout for Moose Jaw.
The Raiders had a great chance to strike first in the contest, drawing penalties for a two-man advantage about three minutes into the contest. They created chances in the zone – most notably Logan Linklater making a pass to the top of the crease and a Guhle one-timer attempt – but were not able to solve Bilous.
At the other end, the Warriors didn’t register their first shot on Serhyenko until there was 7:31 to go in the opening period. Serhyenko stood tall, stopping all four shots faced in the first frame.
[related_links] In the second, the Raiders continued to press to break the deadlock. Ozzy Wiesblatt broke through Warriors defence and found himself on a partial breakaway. He deked to his backhand, but a sprawling Bilous was able to get his right pad on it.
Midway through the frame, Guhle provided the breakthrough for the Raiders. Remy Aquilon controlled the puck at the blueline and looked like he was going to shoot. Instead, he passed to Guhle who snapped a shot from the right faceoff circle that beat Bilous on the short side to give the Montreal Canadiens prospect his first goal of the season and the Raiders a 1-0 advantage at the 8:22 mark.
Kaiden Guhle snaps a shot through Boston Bilous for his first of the year!#GoRaidersGo #SubwayWHLHub pic.twitter.com/U7SuY124MS
— Prince Albert Raiders (@PARaidersHockey) March 15, 2021
Shortly after, Reece Vitelli set up a chance that almost made it 2-0. He cut around a Warriors defender, then dropped a pass to fellow Manitoban Evan Herman. The Raiders winger put a quick shot on goal that Bilous got a shoulder on to keep it a one-goal game.
At the other end, Serhyenko wasn’t tested often in the period but made the saves when he was called upon. His best was a save on a two-on-one rush, using his blocker to beat away a shot from Eric Alarie.
The Warriors found their equalizer 3:52 into the third period. Daemon Hunt’s point shot found it’s way through traffic and beat Serhyenko to tie up the game.
The rest of the third period was a tight-checking affair that saw no team find the back of the net.
In the overtime period, Serhyenko kept his team in the game. He made two great saves to keep the action going. His first was on Kade Hayes, getting his pad to the post to stop the partial breakaway attempt. Serhyenko also turned aside Hunt with another game-saving stop with his pad.
The Raiders’ best chance came on a two-on-one rush near the end of the five minutes. Spencer Moe held the puck until the last moment, then found Guhle on the doorstep. Guhle’s one-timer was turned aside by Bilous.
In the shootout, Wiesblatt was able to solve Bilous through his five-hole on the first attempt. However, it was the only goal the Raiders scored in the shootout. Ryder Korczak equalized before Yager beat Serhyenko to end the contest.
The Raiders are back in action on Tuesday when they take on the Brandon Wheat Kings (1-0-1-0) for the first time in the Subway Hub Centre. Game time is 4 p.m. Catch the game on WHL Live on CHL TV.
