Raiders rout Rockets 8-3
The Prince Albert Raiders made light work of the Kelowna Rockets on Friday night, winning by an 8-3 final. The Raiders improved to 23-5-4-0 with the win at the Art Hauser Centre.
The Raiders jumped out to a very quick start against the Memorial Cup hosts, scoring three goals in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Linden Burrett opened the scoring just 1:18 into the first, as he led a rush down the right wing after taking a pass from Owen Corkish. Cutting hard towards the net from right to left, Burrett turned to his backhand and snuck his third goal of the season over the goal line past Harrison Boettiger to make it 1-0.
Less than three minutes later, a Juice Bomb put the Raiders up by a pair. On the powerplay, the Raider captain took a pass from Brayden Dube at the blue line and blasted a one timer blocker side past Boettiger. Christensen scored in his third straight game, and picked up his eighth of the season to make it 2-0.
With 10:06 left in the first, Brandon Gorzynski scored his first as a Raider to extend their lead even further. On another powerplay, Gorzynski took a pass down low from Aiden Oiring, looking like a ridiculous angle to shoot from. But, from the bottom of the right circle, Gorzynski sniped a shot in the near top corner over Boettiger’s left shoulder, picking up his 14th goal of the season to give Prince Albert a 3-0 lead.
The Rockets would get one back with 9:31 left in the frame though, as Carson Wetsch made it a 3-1 game. After Kelowna won an offensive zone facecoff, Dawson Gerwing took a shot that was stopped by Dimitri Fortin, but Wetsch was able to find the rebound in tight, and he found the back of the net on his scoring chance, collecting his 13th goal of the year.
It was an entertaining opening 20 minutes, which saw the Raiders take a 3-1 lead into the second period.
Prince Albert scored six seconds later into the second than they did the first, as Jonah Sivertson struck 1:24 in. After he took a pass from Benett Kelly, Sivertson’s first shot was blocked, but he was able to get the puck right back. On his second chance, Sivertson picked the top corner, blocker side over Boettiger. He scored his 10th goal of the season to make it 4-1.
After Gorzynski’s gorgeous goal in the first period, he added another at the 3:02 mark of the second. Brayden Dube chipped a puck ahead to Gorzynski in his own end to enter ice, where Gorzynski then had a breakaway chance. He was denied by Boettiger with a nice blocker save, but he was able to pick up the puck again in the corner. He chipped it behind the net to Oiring, who circled around and gave a pass right back. Gorzynski took it in his skates, before bringing it to his backhand and roofing a shot, partially deflecting off a Rocket in front. His second goal of the night made it a 5-1 game, bringing an end to Boettiger’s night between the pipes. He was replaced by Josh Banini, the former Moose Jaw Warrior.
The two teams would trade goals less than two minutes apart midway through the second, as Jaxon Kehrig scored for Kelowna, while Riley Boychuk potted one home for the Raiders on the powerplay to make it a 6-2 game.
With 3:30 to go in the second, Dawson Gerwing took advantage of a turnover in the Raiders zone, stealing the puck from Gorzynski in the slot. From there, he sniped a shot home blocker side past Fortin to make it a 6-3 game. That would be the score after 40 minutes, with tempers slowly starting to boil over heading into the third.
Aiden Oiring scored 2:33 into the third period to make it a 7-3 game, and Gorzynski completed his first career hat trick, scoring his third goal of the night with 5:12 left in regulation to make it 8-3.
There would be three 10-minute misconducts handed out in the final minute of the third period, two to the Rockets and one to the Raiders, as that rounded out the hostility in the game. The final buzzer went, and the Raiders were 8-3 winners on the final game before the Christmas break.
Prince Albert is now off until December 27th when they visit the Swift Current Broncos.
