Fortin stops 28 while Meunier scores GWG in the shootout to give Raiders a 3-2 win in Moose Jaw
It was a goaltending duel on Friday night in Moose Jaw, but the Prince Albert Raiders came out on the right side of a 3-2 shootout win over the Warriors, giving the green and gold their second straight victory.
The Warriors took the lead just 48 seconds into the first period, as they poured on some early pressure in the Raider zone. After the puck came up to the point to Ryder Ellis, the defenceman fired a low shot on goal, and it was tipped over Dimitri Fortin’s shoulder by Owen Berge. Berge was parked right in the slot untouched to get his stick on the point shot, redirecting home his eighth goal of the season to give the home side the early 1-0 advantage.
Midway through the first, Prince Albert scored on their first powerplay of the game, as Lukas Dragicevic found the back of the net. The puck was passed around the point by Dragicevic, Aiden Oiring, and Tomas Mrsic. Eventually, Mrsic gave a pass to Dragicevic at the middle of the blue line, and the Raider defenceman blasted a one timer home through traffic to score his seventh goal of the season. Dragicevic continued to roll with the goal, picking up his sixth point in four games, and tying the score at 1-1.
Prince Albert took their first lead of the night with 4:02 left in the first period, as rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph scored his third goal of the season. After a great play by Luke Moroz to play the puck down low, Oiring picked it up and surveyed his options from the left circle. He saw Rudolph cutting towards the net, and fed the 16-year-old a pass on the tape. Rudolph did the rest from there, firing a quick shot top shelf over Josh Banini.
Rudolph’s goal rounded out the first period scoring, as the Raiders took a 2-1 lead into the second.
Moose Jaw scored the lone goal of the second period at the 15:33 mark, as Riley Thorpe tied things up. Carrying the puck down the left wing, Thorpe went behind the net and went for the wraparound. Fortin was cheating hard on his right post and couldn’t push back to his left in time, as Thorpe tucked the puck over the line for his third goal of the season to make it a 2-2 game.
Aside from the only goal of the period, there were two fights in the middle frame. At the 7:02 mark, Oli Chenier dropped the gloves with Max Finley. The two exchanged a couple of shots before Chenier was dragged down to the ice by his counterpart. At the 15:02 mark, Matteo Fabrizi dropped the gloves for the first time as a Raider, as he went with Rilen Kovacevic. Kovacevic was upset after he was dumped by Fabrizi in the Prince Albert zone, and he got dumped once again as Fabrizi got the better of him in the fight. The Raider defenceman landed a couple of big blows before hauling Kovacevic down to the ice.
Cooler heads would prevail for the rest of the period, and with 40 minutes in the books, the Raiders and Warriors were tied 2-2 heading into the third.
Prince Albert outshot Moose Jaw 12-9 in the final regulation frame, but neither side was able to find a goal. Both Fortin and Banini came up huge late in the third, making clutch saves at either end of the ice to keep it a tie game, and they would be key parts in sending the game to overtime.
The Warriors took a penalty with two seconds left in regulation, letting the Raiders start overtime on a long four on three powerplay. However, they couldn’t bury a game winner, as Banini came up huge with some big saves, stopping five in overtime. Fortin stopped all three shots he faced from the Warriors as well, and the game would carry on into a shootout.
Round 1:
Brayden Schuurman scores, Aiden Oiring scores
Round 2:
Rilen Kovacevic misses, Tomas Mrsic misses
Round 3:
Pavel McKenzie scores, Lukas Dragicevic scores
Round 4:
Landen McFadden misses, Brayden Dube misses
Round 5:
Owen Berge misses, Niall Crocker misses
Round 6:
Aiden Ziprick misses, Ty Meunier scores (PA wins 3-2)
Meunier’s game winner in the shootout lifted the Raiders to a 3-2 road victory, thanks in large part to Fortin stopping 28 of 3 shots that he faced in regulation and overtime.
Prince Albert will look to push their winning streak to three games tomorrow night when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings. Puck drops at 7pm at the Art Hauser Centre.
