Raiders start three game Alberta road trip with 6-4 setback in Edmonton
The Prince Albert Raiders fell behind 4-0 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Friday night and couldn’t quite recover, as they fell 6-4 to the Oil Kings to kick off a three in three weekend. Niall Crocker scored a hat trick in the setback.
The Oil Kings got off to a hot start, jumping ahead to a 3-0 lead after the first period. Edmonton opened the scoring with 8:11 left in the opening frame, as Landon Hanson cashed in on a breakaway. Marc Lajoie fed a pass to Hanson from his own goal line, and Hanson was all alone to break into the Raider zone. Hanson stick handled a couple of times before sniping home a forehand shot glove side past Max Hildebrand. His fourth goal of the season made it a 1-0 game.
With 4:39 left in the first, Edmonton doubled their lead, as Skyler Bruce set up Rhys Pederson for his first goal of the season. Cutting in from the right wing, Bruce threw a pass in front of the net. The puck took a bounce and deflected high off of Pederson and just went past the goal line. The referee initially waved the goal off, but a video review confirmed the puck crossed the goal line, and the Oil Kings took a 2-0 lead.
Edmonton was awarded the first powerplay of the game, and that quickly turned into a five on three powerplay with Sloan Stanick joining Niall Crocker in the penalty box. From the point, Gavin Hodnett walked all the way to the slot with the puck. When it seemed like he was going to fire a shot on goal, Hodnett swung a pass down to the right circle for Lajoie, who pounded a one timer home past Hildebrand to make it a 3-0 game after the first period.
Just past the midway mark of the second period, the Oil Kings extended their lead to 4-0. A shot from the left circle by Smyth Rebman was tipped right in front of the net by Bruce, who beat Hildebrand with the deflection. Bruce’s 13th goal of the season made it a 4-0 game, and it chased Hildebrand out of the Raider crease, as Nathan Preston came in goal in relief with 9:01 left in the second.
The Raiders fought back with a goal of their own in the second, and it came on their first powerplay of the game. Jacob Hoffrogge swung a pass to the left circle to Stanick, who then gave Crocker a pass in front of the net. Using his long reach, Crocker swept a shot past Kolby Hay on the far post to make it a 4-1 game with his 11th goal of the season.
With 40 minutes in the books, the Raiders had a lot of work left to do, as they trailed 4-1, despite leading 26-22 on the shot clock.
Prince Albert made it a 4-2 game 3:47 into the third period, as Turner McMillen scored his second goal as a Raider. Luke Moroz sent a beautiful pass to McMillen in the crease, and all the overage winger had to do was tap home his fourth goal of the season to make it a two goal game early in the final frame.
The Oil Kings responded with 9:33 left in the third, as Ryan Woodward scored his ninth goal of the season to make it a 5-2 game.
From there, the Raiders scored two straight to make it a one goal game. Niall Crocker scored his second goal of the night with 6:48 left in the third. A shot at the point from Eric Johnston was tipped in front by Crocker, who deflected the puck past Hay to make it a 5-3 game.
After the Raiders took a timeout and pulled the goalie late in the game, Crocker completed the hat trick with 2:04 left in regulation. Krzysztof Macias took a shot that hit Crocker and bounced on the ice in front of the net, and the winger was able to bang home his third goal of the night, making it just a one goal game, as it became 5-4 in the late stages.
That’s as far as the Raiders would get, however, as an empty net marker from Ty Nash gave the Oil Kings an insurance marker to make it a 6-4 final.
Prince Albert (19-21-0-3) continue their three game road trip tomorrow night in Red Deer. Puck drops at 8pm Sask time.
