Powerplay provides plenty of offence in Prince Albert’s 6-1 win over Broncos
The Prince Albert Raiders saw their powerplay come to life on Friday night, as the special teams unit clicked at a staggering 80%. That was more than enough offence, as the Raiders took down the Swift Current Broncos 6-1 at the Art Hauser Centre.
After a sluggish start to the game, the Raiders opened the scoring on their first powerplay with 4:35 left in the first. After Brandon Gorzynski brought the puck into the Broncos zone, he dropped a pass to his left for Aiden Oiring. Oiring saw Daxon Rudolph creeping into the slot, and gave his defenceman a pass. From the top of the circles, Rudolph unleashed a rocket, beating Aiden Eskit top corner on the blocker side. It was Rudolph’s 18th goal of the season, extending his point streak to 13 games. The goal also puts him 10 back of tying Josh Morrissey for the most goals scored by a defenceman in a single season in franchise history.
Prince Albert outshot Swift Current 11-6 in the first 20 minutes, and took their one goal lead into the first intermission.
The powerplay shone again in the second period, as the Raiders went 3/4 in the middle frame. Just 5:10 into the period, a Juice Bomb gave the Raiders a 2-0 lead on their second straight powerplay goal. Justice Christensen took a pass from Maddix McCagherty in the left circle and unloaded a one timer into the back of the net for his 11th goal of the season.
With 5:27 to go in the second, the Broncos responded, as Brendan Rudolph struck. He took a centering feed from Hyde Davidson and snapped a shot past Steele Bass. It was Rudolph’s 10th goal of the season to make it 2-1.
In the final three minutes of the frame, Prince Albert scored twice more on the man advantage to go up 4-1. First, Aiden Oiring scored on a rebound, following up on a scoring chance by Max Heise. Heise was stopped by Eskit right in front of the net, but Eskit kicked the rebound out to his left. Oiring was right there to found the rebound, and deposited his 17th goal of the season to make it a 3-1 spread.
Less than a minute later, Oiring returned the favour, grabbing the primary assist on a goal from Heise. With Heise parked in the bumper spot in the slot, Oiring gave him a perfect pass, which Heise one timed far side past Eskit. Heise notched his 18th goal of the season to make it 4-1, while Oiring picked up his third point of the night.
With 7:56 left in the third period, Owen Corkish made it a 5-1 Raiders lead, finishing a great play set up by Evan Smith. Smith fed Corkish in front on a mini two on one break, where Eskit slid across to make a terrific pad save. He couldn’t recover in time for the second chance, however, as Corkish slid another shot under his pad for his ninth goal of the season.
1:01 later, Brayden Dube found the back of the net with authority to make it 6-1. He took a pass from Gorzynski down the right wing, fired a shot top shelf, and popped the bottle behind the net for good measure. Dube picked up his 18th goal of the season, putting a bow on a 6-1 Raiders win on home ice.
Prince Albert has now won six straight games, and get set to host the Edmonton Oil Kings tomorrow night at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.
