Prince Albert’s offence explodes in 8-3 win over Medicine Hat
It was a shooting gallery on country night at the Art Hauser Centre, as the Prince Albert Raiders dominated the Medicine Hat Tigers 8-3 on Saturday night. Ryder Ritchie and Brayden Dube each scored twice, while Sloan Stanick led the way in scoring with four points on the night.
It was a quick start to the game for the Raiders, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first period. Eight minutes into the first, Stanick opened the scoring. Taking a nice backhand feed from Aiden Oiring, Stanick burst down the left wing and snapped a shot glove side past Zach Zahara. Stanick picked up his second goal in as many nights, and his 30th of the season to put Prince Albert up 1-0.
Niall Crocker doubled the lead 3:39 later, as he turned on the jets to chase a loose puck down in the Tigers zone. Getting to it before any defenceman, Crocker made a strong move to his forehand, cutting across the crease and flipping a shot over Zahara’s glove. His 22nd goal of the season made it a 2-0 game.
Adding onto the lead with 4:58 left in the opening frame was Ryder Ritchie, who scored his third goal in his last four games. After a point shot from Justice Christensen was stopped, Krzysztof Macias grabbed the rebound and sent a perfect no look pass into the low slot. Waiting for it was Ritchie, who beat Zahara five hole to score his 16th goal of the season.
After 20 minutes, Prince Albert took a 3-0 lead into the dressing room, holding a 14-9 edge in shots.
Both sides scored twice in the second period, as the Raiders took a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes. Prince Albert was given a powerplay in the first minute of the middle frame, and scored on that man advantage. From the right wing, Brayden Dube stepped in and sniped a shot far side over Zahara’s blocker. His 15th goal of the season made it a 4-0 game just 1:47 into the period.
The Tigers got on the board with 15:24 left, as Reid Andresen scored his eighth goal of the season to make it a 4-1 game.
Justice Christensen gave the Raiders their four goal lead back with 10:43 to go, as the Raiders jumped all over a Tigers turnover in the offensive zone. Sloan Stanick stole the puck and looked like he was going to take a point blank shot, but found Christensen driving towards the goal. Stanick fed a short pass to him, and the defenceman fired a one timer into the back of the net, scoring his 10th goal of the season to make it a 5-1 game.
Medicine Hat would get a powerplay goal with 6:21 left, as a breakdown in the Raider end led to three Tigers crashing the net. Tyler MacKenzie let a shot go that Max Hildebrand stopped, but Hunter St. Martin jumped on the rebound and potted his 23rd goal of the year.
The Raiders held a 22-21 lead in shots after 40 minutes, and took a 5-2 lead into the third period.
Ritchie and Dube each scored their second goals of the night in the third period, while Aiden Oiring netted another goal for the Raiders, as Prince Albert put up an eight spot in the final frame. Tyler MacKenzie scored for the Tigers in the third period as well, but the home side cruised the rest of the way for an 8-3 win.
With the win, the Raiders improve to 30-27-2-3 on the season, picking up three of a possible four points over the weekend. The club is back in action on Tuesday night to wrap up a four game homestand against the Swift Current Broncos. Puck drop is at 7pm.
