Final minutes prove costly in Raiders 4-3 loss to Rebels
The Prince Albert Raiders led for most of the game, but the Red Deer Rebels were able to score twice in the final three minutes of the third period to win by a 4-3 final on Tuesday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
The Raiders outshot the Rebels 23-6 in the opening 20 minutes, and were rewarded with two goals for their offensive downpour. Less than two minutes into the contest, Alisher Sarkenov opened the scoring after Braeden Cootes led a rush into the offensive zone. Sarkenov got inside positioning on Kohen Lodge crashing to the net, and Cootes gave him a perfect pass to his backhand. Sarkenov had an easy back door tap in, scoring his 18th goal of the season to make it 1-0.
With 11:07 left in the first, Brayden Dube scored his first goal since January 20th to double Prince Albert’s lead. Brock Cripps held the puck in at the blue line and gave a nice backhand pass to Cootes in the right circle. Cootes gave an open Dube a pass in the slot, and the 20-year-old winger was able to get enough on his one timer to beat Matthew Kondro past the far post. Dube’s 21st of the season made it 2-0, and was his first goal in five games since coming back from injury.
Red Deer cut into the lead 5:34 into the second period, finishing off a scoring chance in front of the net. After Steele Bass made a couple of quick saves right in the crease, Rebels defenceman Aleksey Chichkin came in and buried a rebound for his fourth of the year to make it 2-1.
Just under 10 minutes later, Prince Albert’s fourth line went to work to retake the two goal lead. Ben Harvey cycled the puck to the right wall for Maddix McCagherty, who wheeled into the slot on his forehand. Using Matus Lisy as a partial screen, McCagherty let a sneaky shot go, catching a piece of Kondro but finding the back of the net. It was McCagherty’s 18th goal of the season, putting the Raiders up 3-1 heading into the third.
The third period slipped away from the Raiders, in the final eight minutes especially, as the Rebels scored three straight to take the lead. Beckett Hamilton scored with 7:16 left to make it a 3-2 game, while Matej Mikes scored a powerplay goal with 2:49 left to tie it at 3-3.
Just 13 seconds after Mikes’ tally, Cameron Kuzma scored right after the ensuing faceoff. Skating into the offensive zone, Kuzma let a shot go from distance that got past Bass, going off the post and in to give the Rebels the late 4-3 lead.
The Raiders would pull Bass for the extra attacker in the final two minutes, but they couldn’t find the tying goal, as they fell 4-3.
Prince Albert now gets set for a three game Alberta road trip this weekend, including a rematch against the Rebels on Saturday night in Red Deer.
