Raiders beat Rebels 4-1 to win third straight game
We’re five games into the season, and the Prince Albert Raiders have picked up at least a point in every single one of them. Saturday night was a great return home for the green and gold, as they took down the Red Deer Rebels by a 4-1 final to improve to 4-0-1-0 on the season.
Prince Albert got off to a hot start on home ice, scoring 3:56 into the first period to jump ahead 1-0. After Linden Burrett forced a turnover in his own end, he sent a stretch pass ahead to Jonah Sivertson. Sivertson gathered the puck and fed it to center ice for Ty Meunier, who fed it back to Sivertson near the Rebels blue line. Playing catch one more time, Meunier took a pass from Sivertson once again, this time in the slot. Meunier ripped a shot top corner past Chase Wutzke, scoring his third goal of the season, making it back to back games with a goal.
After a relentless few shifts of forechecking, Prince Albert was rewarded again for their efforts, as they jumped ahead to a 2-0 lead with 6:10 left. Meunier made a nice move in the left circle to dance around a Rebel, and worked his way down to the goal line with the puck. He sent a pass to the right circle to Burrett, who skated to the bottom of the circle. Spotting Sivertson creeping towards the net, Burrett snapped a pass to him, and the winger was able to bury his first WHL goal. Sivertson one timed the puck into the back of the net past Wutzke, as he, Burrett, and Meunier connected once again, as they picked up their second points of the period.
Prince Albert outshot Red Deer heavily in the first, leading 13-3 in the department. Heading into the intermission, the Raiders remained up by a 2-0 score.
Just 31 seconds into the second period, Red Deer got right back into the game, scoring to make it 2-1. Taking a shot through traffic, Matthew Gard beat Dimitri Fortin with a shot glove side for his second goal of the season.
Just over five minutes later, Linden Burrett and Matyas Man dropped the gloves for the Raiders, going up against Derek Thurston and Nolan Schmidt. This came after a huge open ice hit was laid on Connor Howe right after he received a pass in his own end. Both Burrett and Man fared well, with Burrett firing up the home crowd after his takedown. Man would be served an extra two minutes as the instigator, but the Raiders were able to kill off the penalty.
With 2:18 left in the second, Ben Harvey gave the Raiders their two goal lead back. After Brayden Dube was denied by Wutzke on a breakaway, Harvey crashed the crease to bury the rebound. His second goal of the season made it a 3-1 game.
Arjun Bawa gave the Raiders a powerplay late in the second after being handed a roughing minor. Prince Albert was able to capitalize on the man advantage, scoring with 1:03 left in the frame. After Daxon Rudolph’s point shot was blocked, Riley Boychuk picked the puck up along the right wall. Circling around, Boychuk sent a rink wide pass to the left circle for Brayden Dube. Dube wired a shot home past Wutzke, scoring his fourth goal of the season.
After two periods of play, the Raiders took a comfortable 4-1 lead into the final 20 minutes.
Fortin’s busiest period in the crease came in the third period, where he stopped all 12 shots he faced for the Raiders. There were no goals to report in the final frame, as Prince Albert cruised along to a 4-1 win.
The Raiders are back in action this Wednesday night at home against the Vancouver Giants.
