Hildebrand stops 32 as Raiders beat Oil Kings 4-1
The Prince Albert Raiders picked up a very important win on Saturday night, as they defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-1 at Rogers Place. Four different Raiders found the back of the net, while Max Hildebrand stopped 32 of 33 shots in the win.
Despite being outshot 7-3 in the first period, the Raiders went into the first intermission holding onto a 1-0 lead thanks to Riley Boychuk. After Lukas Sawchyn turned the puck over in the Raider zone, Ty Meunier turned on the jets to track down the loose puck in the neutral zone. Gaining control of it, Meunier sent a great pass through an Oil Kings defenceman to the tape of Boychuk, and he was able to snipe a shot past Alex Worthington to grab his 14th goal of the season.
Thanks to the great play between the two 16-year-olds, Prince Albert was able to take a 1-0 lead into the second period.
The Raiders went up by a pair 4:36 into the middle frame, as Tomas Mrsic and Brayden Dube connected for a great goal. Mrsic put in some hard work behind Edmonton’s net to steal the puck, and sent a perfect pass in front of the net to Dube, who was able to pick the top corner on a one timer. Dube’s 29th goal of the season put the Raiders up 2-0 on just their fourth shot of the game.
With 1:08 to go in the period, Daxon Rudolph took advantage of the extra ice during four on four play, as he gave the Raiders a three goal lead. After the puck was chipped free near center ice, Rudolph collected it and led a two on one rush down the left wing with Dube. Electing to shoot, Rudolph picked his spot perfectly past Worthington, burying his sixth goal of the season to make it a 3-0 game.
Edmonton did respond however, as they scored a powerplay goal with 11 seconds left in the frame. With Tyrone Sobry in the box, Miroslav Holinka beat Max Hildebrand by tipping a point pass from Gracyn Sawchyn home for his 17th goal of the season. Edmonton scored their first goal of the night on their 23rd shot of the game.
Despite giving up the late tally, the Raiders took a two goal lead into the third period while trailing 23-12 in shots.
In the third period, the Raiders were forced to kill off three penalties, and they stood tall by not allowing a single goal. Edmonton had some time with a six on four man advantage with the goalie pulled as well, but an empty net goal from Niall Crocker sealed the deal with 51 seconds left in the game to put the Raiders up 4-1.
Prince Albert ends their four game road trip with a pair of massive wins, and the club returns home on Tuesday night when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.
