Raiders beat Rebels 4-1 in game one
Game one between the Prince Albert Raiders and Red Deer Rebels set the tone as one of the most physical games all season. The Raiders were able to prevail out of it, winning by a 4-1 final to take a 1-0 series lead on Friday night.
The crowd erupted early into the contest, but for the wrong reason. Max Heise was hit hard from behind, going head first into the boards, and was down for a long time on the ice, needing to be helped off to the dressing room. No penalty was called on the play, bringing an appropriate response from Raider fans. Heise would not return to the game.
With 5:17 left in the first the Raiders opened the scoring on the powerplay. Brock Cripps and Daxon Rudolph exchanged passes at the point, with Cripps getting a return feed at the top of the blue line. Cripps sent a pass to the right wing for Braeden Cootes, who zipped a shot past Matthew Kondro. Cootes, who scored twice in the 2025 WHL Playoffs, picked up his first goal of the 2026 postseason, putting Prince Albert up 1-0 after 20 minutes.
Just one goal was scored in the middle frame, which saw the Raiders doubled their lead 2:03 into the frame. After a faceoff win in the offensive zone, the puck was played to Rudolph at the point, who carried the puck down the right wall. The defenceman threw a pass in front, hitting Aiden Oiring’s stick, but his redirection missed the net just wide. The good news was that the puck ended up right back on Rudolph’s stick, who circled around the net with it this time. Smartly, he banked a shot off an out of position Kondro, and the puck went in, giving Rudolph his first goal of the playoffs after a 28 goal regular season campaign.
Justice Christensen delivered the most electrifying hit midway through the period, sending Rebels defenceman Aleksey Chichkin into the Raiders bench. Chickin went upside down into the bench, bringing an eruption of applause from the fans.
Later in the second, Michal Orsulak made his biggest save of the night, denying Kalder Varga on a breakaway chance. Orsulak shut the five hole to deny Varga of a goal that would have made it 2-1, which was one of seven stops for Orsulak in the frame.
After two periods, the Raiders were clutching a 2-0 lead, outshooting Red Deer 31-16.
Red Deer brought themselves back into the game 7:35 into the third period on a powerplay. A one timer from Poul Andersen was blocked by Owen Corkish, but the rebound deflected off Matyas Man’s skate in front, and snuck past Orsulak five hole. After the crazy bounces, Andersen was credited with the goal to make it a 2-1 game.
Prince Albert responded just over three minutes later, as Cootes struck for the second time. A nice breakout pass from Cripps found Brayden Dube down the right wing, and the 20-year-old slipped a pass ahead for Cootes in the offensive zone. From the right faceoff circle, Cootes fired a shot past Kondro far side over his blocker, making it a 3-1 game.
Cripps put the final touches on the game, scoring his first postseason goal to make it 4-1. After Cootes took a pass from Jonah Sivertson along the right wall, he stopped up and dropped a pass for Cripps at the point. Cripps leaned into a shot from the top of the right circle, sniping home the 4-1 marker.
With the win, the Raiders take a 1-0 series lead, and will look to make it a 2-0 lead tomorrow night with game two. Puck drops at the Art Hauser Centre at 7pm.
