Raiders slide into top spot in WHL standings with 6-4 win over Regina
The Prince Albert Raiders picked up a 6-4 win on Friday night over the Regina Pats at the Art Hauser Centre, picking up points in their sixth straight game. Six different Raiders scored in the win, as the team moved into a tie for first place in the WHL standings.
The Raiders opened the scoring 4:30 into the first period. After working the puck down low in the Regina zone, the play came back up to the point for Easton Kovacs. Kovacs swung the puck back down to Ryder Ritchie, who then fed the puck to the tape of Sloan Stanick. Right when Stanick got the puck, he took a nasty high stick from a Regina defender, but was able to fire a shot home past Kelton Pyne. Stanick took a second to collect himself on the ice, but got back up and led the flyby past the Raider bench, as Prince Albert took an early 1-0 lead.
It didn’t take long for the Pats to respond, however, as they found the game’s equalizing goal just 57 seconds later. After a shot from Jared Brinson from the point was stopped by Chase Coward, the rebound popped out right in front of the net. Matteo Michels pounced on the rebound, and buried his fifth goal of the season. Coward barely missed making a highlight reel save on the play, as the shot went just past his outstretched glove to make it a 1-1 game.
Regina took a 2-1 lead with 8:21 left in the first period, just two seconds after their first powerplay of the game expired. After being denied on a couple of scoring chances on the man advantage, the Pats finally found another goal, as Borya Valis chased in for the visitors. A one timer from the left circle just beat Coward, as his third goal of the campaign gave Regina a one goal lead.
After 20 minutes, the shots were even at 11-11, with the Pats leading 2-1 on the scoreboard.
The Raiders erupted for three goals in the second period to take the lead after 40 minutes. Easton Kovacs started things off with the game tying goal just 5:54 into the middle frame. A shot from the point beat Pyne high on the blocker side. It was Kovacs’ first goal as a Raider, and it made it a 2-1 game.
Tyrone Sobry gave the Raiders their second lead of the night with 11:46 left in the second. A point shot, much like the one from Kovacs, fooled Pyne. Sobry’s shot beat all of the traffic in front of the net, and gave the Raiders a 3-2 lead with his first WHL goal.
Hayden Pakkala wrapped up the second period scoring with 4:19 left in the middle frame. A two on one rush was converted by Pakkala, as Brayden Dube feathered a pass on the tape to the Raider forward. All Pakkala had to do was bury a shot into a relatively open net, and his second goal of the campaign made it a 4-2 Raider lead after two periods.
Four goals were scored in the final three minutes of the third period. Niall Crocker gave the Raiders a 5-2 lead with 2:58 left in regulation, as he finished a nice pass from Harrison Lodewyk. Sam Oremba responded for the Pats, scoring with 2:22 left in the third to make it a 5-3 game.
Brayden Dube scored into an empty net with one minute left on the clock to give the Raiders a 6-3 lead, but Cole Temple scored on a breakaway with 1.9 seconds left on the clock to make it 6-4.
The time ran out on the clock, and the Raiders found themselves picking up points in their sixth straight game. The win improves Prince Albert’s record to 7-3-0-1 on the season, moving them into a share for the top spot in the WHL standings.
The Raiders are back in action tomorrow night at home against the Moose Jaw Warriors. Puck drop is 7pm.
