Raiders start road trip with 3-1 win in Calgary
The Prince Albert Raiders began their three in three weekend on the right foot, picking up a 3-1 win over the Calgary Hitmen on Friday night. Three different Raiders scored, while Michal Orsulak stopped 24 of 25 shots in the victory.
After a scoreless first period, the Raiders rattled off three goals in a seven minute stretch to take the lead after 40 minutes. Ben Harvey scored the first goal of the contest with 9:12 to go in the middle frame. He fed the puck to the blue line for Daxon Rudolph, who quickly sent a pass to the slot for Connor Howe. Howe gave the puck back to Harvey, who ripped a shot shortside past Eric Tu. The 16-year-old collected his ninth goal of the season to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
For the first time since January 23rd, Max Heise found the back of the net, scoring with 8:39 left in the second period to extend Prince Albert’s lead. Owen Corkish picked off a pass in the Hitmen zone, and fed a soft backhand pass to Heise, who was behind the Calgary defence. In on a mini breakaway, Heise took a shot that Tu got a piece of, but it bounced high in the air and over the goaltender’s shoulder, crossing the goal line. The fortunate bounce gave Heise his 25th goal of the year.
With 2:42 to go, Daxon Rudolph pushed the lead further, scoring his 26th goal of the season. Riley Boychuk forced a turnover behind the Calgary net and gave Rudolph a pass in the high slot. The 17-year-old defenceman locked and loaded a hard shot, beating Tu on the blocker side.
With 40 minutes in the books, things looked promising for the Raiders, as they took a 3-0 lead into the third.
Harrison Lodewyk score the only goal of the third period, striking against his former team to make it 3-1. After Orsulak made a save on Julien Maze on a sharp angle shot, the rebound came right out to the slot, where Lodewyk was able to bang home the rebound for his 13th goal of the season.
No other goals were scored after that, as the Raiders picked up their first win against Calgary this season, winning by a 3-1 final.
Prince Albert will look for revenge now, as they travel to Red Deer to take on the Rebels tomorrow night.
