Raiders fall to Oil Kings 5-4 in penalty filled game
The Prince Albert Raiders just couldn’t complete a third period comeback on Friday night, as they fell 5-4 to the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Art Hauser Centre.
The Raiders didn’t get their first shot of the game until the 5:14 mark of the first period, but it was a good one as it found the back of the net to open the scoring. Lukas Dragicevic took a pass from Tomas Mrsic at the top of the left circle off his skate, and corralled the puck to his stick. Striding forward, Dragicevic sniped a shot over Ethan Simcoe’s glove, potting his 50th career WHL goal to give Prince Albert a 1-0 lead.
The green and gold took the only two penalties of the first period, but their penalty kill stood tall, not allowing a goal in four minutes of shorthanded time.
Despite being outshot 14-4 in the opening 20 minutes, the Raiders took their 1-0 lead into the second period.
The Oil Kings scored a pair of powerplay goals in the second period to temporarily take the lead. 1:45 into the second, Gracyn Sawchyn blasted a one timer from the point that Dimitri Fortin stopped most but not all of, as it snuck under his arm and in. Sawchyn’s 28th goal of the season got the Oil Kings on the board to tie the game at 1-1.
With 7:16 left in the middle frame, Edmonton took their first lead of the night, as this time it was Miroslav Holinka scoring on the man advantage. Taking a pass from Blake Fiddler in the left circle, Holinka fired a shot far side that beat Fortin on the glove side. The goal was Holinka’s 16th of the season to put the visitors up 2-1.
Prince Albert tied things up again less than two minutes later, as Justice Christensen responded for the home side. After a pass behind the net from Riley Boychuk deflected off an Edmonton stick, the puck came right to Christensen’s stick, and he snapped a shot off the far post and in, blocker side past Simcoe. The goal gave the Raider captain sole possession of top spot in the league in goals among defenceman, as it was his 21st of the season to tie things up at 2-2.
The Raiders took the lead with 55 seconds to go in the second, as it was their turn to strike on the powerplay. After Brayden Dube circled around the net, he sent a pass to the point for Tomas Mrsic. Finding Oiring open in the right circle, he fed a pass across, and Oiring was able to rip home a one timer, as his shot hit Simcoe and found the back of the net. In a back and forth battle, Oiring’s 23rd goal of the season made it a 3-2 game.
That lead didn’t last long, as Edmonton tied the game again with 19 seconds left in the period. Marshall Finnie was wide open in front of the net, and he got a pass from Rylen Roersma to tap home his 14th goal into an empty net.
After 40 minutes which saw a combined 16 penalties, it was a 3-3 game heading into the third period, with the shots favouring Edmonton by a 26-22 clip.
The officials had their whistles out often in the third period, calling six penalties on the Raiders in the final frame. Cole Miller scored with 5:56 to go in regulation to put the Oil Kings up 4-3, while Adam Jecho scored a powerplay goal to make it 5-3 with 2:38 left to go.
With 1:26 to go and the Raiders net empty, Dragicevic scored to make it a 5-4 game. The Raiders were pushing again late with the net empty, but a penalty was called with five seconds left on the Raiders to bring the puck back into their own end and kill any late chance they had to tie things up.
Time ticked down to read zeros, as the Oil Kings walked away with the 5-4 win.
Prince Albert will have to wait until tomorrow night to have another crack at clinching a playoff spot, as they head to Swift Current to battle the Broncos. Puck drops at 7pm.
