Raiders snap losing streak with 5-2 win in Kamloops
A six game losing streak is in the rear view mirror. The Prince Albert Raiders picked up their first win of the BC road trip on Tuesday night, defeating the Kamloops Blazers 5-2 at the Sandman Centre. Tomas Mrsic led the way in scoring, putting up a goal and two assists, while Max Hildebrand stopped 37 of 39 shots he faced in the victory.
The Raiders wasted no time finding the back of the net, scoring the first goal of the game 38 seconds in. Flying down the right wing, Tomas Mrsic fed a pass to Luke Moroz in the slot. Moroz returned the favour with a pass back to Mrsic, who fired a one timer glove side past Dylan Ernst. Mrsic continued his hot stretch on the BC road trip, picking up his fourth point in three games out west, and his fifth goal of the season. Moroz extended his point streak to three games with the assist.
Kamloops tied the game with 13:40 left in the first, as Blazer captain Emmitt Finnie responded for the home side. Finnie led a rush into the Raider zone down the left wing, and worked his way down, nearly to the goal line. He took a sharp angle shot on goal, and it fooled Max Hildebrand, going five hole to even things up at 1-1 with his fourth goal of the season.
Prince Albert took the lead back 4:30 into the second period. Brayden Dube had a great chance to score on a wraparound try, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Instead, the puck came loose in front, where Riley Boychuk rang the rebound off the right post. Thankfully, Ethan Bibeau was Johnny on the spot to roof a third try home. Bibeau scored his third goal of the season, and saw his point streak extend to three games, as he gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead.
Luke Moroz scored his first goal of the season with 1:21 left in the second period. From the right wall, Mrsic dished a pass to Doogan Pederson at the blue line. From there, the Raider defenceman fired a shot on goal, and Moroz was able to get his stick on the shot to tip it home. After being hit in the face earlier in the game by a puck, Pederson came back with a fishbowl on his helmet to pick up the primary assist. Mrsic grabbed his second point of the night, and the Raiders went into the second intermission enjoying a 3-1 lead.
Two powerplay goals in the third period were more than enough to seal the deal for Prince Albert. Krzysztof Macias and Aiden Oiring scored 2:10 apart on separate man advantages. Macias buried a one timer, taking a pass from Niall Crocker near the goal line. Oiring’s goal was a snipe from the left circle, as he ripped a shot past Ernst to make it a 5-1 game.
The Blazers were able to find a goal with 26 seconds left, as Jordan Keller beat Hildebrand, but the Raiders came out with a 5-2 victory, snapping a six game losing streak.
Prince Albert wraps up their BC road trip this weekend with a pair of games. The first of those games is on Friday night in Victoria.
