Raiders fall 5-4 in Regina
The Prince Albert Raiders couldn’t get the job done on Wednesday night in Regina, as they fell 5-4 to the Pats at the Brandt Centre.
After not scoring since the home opener, Oli Chenier gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead 5:52 into the first period in Regina. Not only did he score, Chenier did so in highlight reel fashion. Right after a Raiders powerplay expired, Chenier followed up on a scoring chance by Jonah Sivertson. After Sivertson was stopped, Chenier found the puck in the low slot and went between the legs, roofing his second goal of the season past Marek Schlenker to give Prince Albert a 1-0 lead.
The Raiders held onto their one goal lead until there were 41.8 seconds left in the first period, as the Pats tied things back up. Zachary Lansard put in a hard working shift for the Pats, digging pucks free on the forecheck and showing off his hands. He would get a pass from Caden Brown in the slot and beat Dimitri Fortin with a shot glove side for his 12th goal of the season.
With 20 minutes in the books, both sides went into the intermission all tied up.
Prince Albert took their lead back just 1:33 into the second period, as Daxon Rudolph extended his goal scoring streak to six games. Taking a rink wide feed from Riley Boychuk at center ice, Rudolph danced his way around three Pats, and then made a move to his backhand in front and beat Schlenker to score his 14th goal of the season. The Raiders had two highlight reel goals in the game from Chenier and Rudolph, as they took a 2-1 lead.
The Pats would tie things back up at the 12:53 mark of the second period, as Lansard found the back of the net for the second time. After his original shot from the right circle was kicked away by Fortin, Lansard was able to find his own rebound. This time he made no mistake, beating Fortin blocker side to make it a 2-2 game.
Less than a minute later, Regina took the lead for the first time in the contest. Fortin made a terrific save on Caden Brown on a breakaway, and then another stop on Connor Bear on a backhand try, but there was a third chance shortly after. Reese Hamilton picked up the puck behind the net and fed it out front, where Brown was able to finish off his original scoring chance. He picked up his 19th goal of the season, giving the home side a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.
After Connor Howe was robbed of a goal by the buzzer at the end of the second period, he made up for it by scoring a goal 4:50 into the third to tie the game once again. Riley Boychuk gave him a beautiful pass from behind the net to the slot, where he was able to score his second goal of the season to make it 3-3.
Then in the final half of the third, Regina scored back to back goals to go up 5-3. Ephram McNutt and Ellis Mieyette scored less than five minutes apart. McNutt scored on a glove side shot from the right circle, while Mieyette found a hole through Fortin’s five hole. Mieyette’s goal came on a four minute Pats powerplay, with Owen Corkish in the box serving a double minor for high sticking.
With 1:12 to go and Prince Albert’s net empty, Justice Christensen made it a one goal game, scoring on a one timer from the right circle. He took a pass from Brandon Gorzynski and ripped a bullet past Schlenker. With the assist, Gorzynski picked up his first point as a Raider.
Prince Albert would pull Fortin once again for the extra attacker in the final minute, but couldn’t find the late game tying goal, as the Pats held on for the 5-4 win on home ice.
The Raiders (22-5-4-0) wrap up the first half of the season on Friday night at home against the Kelowna Rockets. Puck drops at 7pm.
With the current weather conditions in southern Saskatchewan, the Raiders will be staying in Regina tonight. The team will travel back to Prince Albert tomorrow. We would like to thank everyone for their well wishes today while we were on the road.
