Hildebrand picks up second shutout of the season in 3-0 win over Lethbridge
The Raiders picked up their fourth win in six games on Wednesday night, blanking the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-0 at the Art Hauser Centre. Niall Crocker, Brayden Dube, and Harrison Lodewyk scored for the Raiders in the win, while Max Hildebrand collected his second career shutout with 18 saves.
The Raiders displayed their relentless forecheck in the first period, pouring five shots on goal in the opening three minutes of the contest. At the 6:51 mark of the opening frame, the Raiders were awarded their first powerplay of the game, and were able to cash in on it. After a point shot from Terrell Goldsmith hit bodies in front of the net, the puck remained loose, leading to a scramble to track it down. Sloan Stanick found it and took a shot that was blocked, but Niall Crocker was able to bury the rebound with Harrison Meneghin out of the play in the Lethbridge crease. Crocker picked up his fourth goal in his last five game, and it gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Prince Albert doubled their lead 2:44 in the first period, thanks to a nice play set up between Cole Peardon and Brayden Dube. The two forwards entered the Lethbridge zone on a two on one rush, with Peardon carrying the puck down the left wing. With Dube crashing the net, Peardon gave him a perfect pass on the tape, and he was able to tap home his 13th goal of the season, and third goal in two games to give Prince Albert a 2-0 lead.
With 2:22 left in the middle frame, Harrison Lodewyk gave the Raiders some extra breathing room, scoring his sixth goal of the season. A point shot from Eric Johnston was stopped, but Lodewyk dug at the rebound, and was eventually able to clean up the garbage in the crease with Meneghin facing the wrong way. The center picked up his second goal in three games, and it helped the green and gold take a 3-0 lead into the third period.
From there, the Raiders were able to shut things down the rest of the way, limiting Lethbridge to just four shots in the third period. Max Hildebrand stopped all 18 shots he faced in the game picking up his second shutout of the season, and of his WHL career, as the Raiders won by a 3-0 final, improving to 23-24-1-3 on the season.
The win puts them back into a playoff spot, and just one point behind the Hurricanes for the seven seed. The club is back in action on Friday night in Saskatoon, and Saturday night at home against Brandon.