Raiders come back from two down to beat Wild 5-2
The first ever meeting in Prince Albert between the Raiders and Wenatchee Wild did not disappoint on the intensity level. The Raiders trailed 2-0 in the first period, but scored early and often in the third period to beat their US Division opponents by a 5-2 final on Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
Luka Shcherbyna opened the scoring for Wenatchee at the 3:16 mark of the first period, as he finished off an odd man rush with Shaun Rios. With the two of them entering the Raider zone, Rios carried the puck down the left wall, while Shcherbyna crashed the net. Rios sent a hard pass in front, and Shcherbyna was able to get his stick on it and redirect home his 12th goal of the season, evading Daxon Rudolph’s backcheck to make it a 1-0 game.
Following up his assist earlier in the frame, Rios found the back of the net himself to give the Wild a 2-0 lead. Carrying the puck down the left wing again, Rios skated into the slot and took a shot that Justice Christensen couldn’t get his stick on, as it got past him and beat Hildebrand glove side. Rios picked up his 18th goal of the season, and doubled the lead for the visitors.
Christensen responded for the Raiders just 16 seconds later, as Prince Albert found the back of the net for the first time in the game. After Rilen Kovacevic played the puck up the wall to the point for Daxon Rudolph, the rookie defenceman swung the puck along the blue line for the Raider captain. From the left point, Christensen ripped home a one timer past Brendan Gee, scoring his 16th goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game after the opening 20 minutes.
The next scoring didn’t come until the third period, where the Raiders rattled off four goals in the final 20 minutes. After a one timer at the point by Lukas Dragicevic whistled over the net, the puck came bouncing back in front of the crease. Brayden Dube found the loose puck and buried it into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2. Dube’s marker was a powerplay goal, as the Raiders struck for the first time on the man advantage.
Five minutes later, the Raiders took their first lead of the night after Niall Crocker made a great play to keep the puck alive in the Wild zone. He zipped a rink wide pass to Aiden Oiring, who then put the puck quickly back in the slot for Tomas Mrsic. With a ton of room to shoot, Mrsic picked his spot blocker side past Gee, scoring his 29th goal of the season to make it a 3-2 game.
With 5:56 left in regulation, Prince Albert scored another powerplay goal to go up by a pair. After passing the puck around between the circles and the blue line, the puck came up top to Oiring, and he sent a hard pass to the corner for Dube, and the winger flipped a backhand pass in front of the net. There to find it was Niall Crocker, who lifted a shot over Gee, scoring his 18th goal of the season to make it a 4-2 Prince Albert lead.
The Wild made a bold decision to pull the goalie with five and a half minutes left in regulation, and it did not pay off. With 4:04 left in the third, Oiring shot the puck the length of the ice and into the yawning cage, picking up his third point of the night, and putting the bow on a 5-2 win at the Hauser.
The Raiders now have points in nine straight games, and will head on the road next week for three tough games in Alberta, with stops in Calgary, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat.