Raiders tame Tigers 3-2
The Prince Albert Raiders went toe to toe with the Eastern Conference second best Medicine Hat Tigers, and came away with a 3-2 win on Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
“I really liked our compete, we were heavy,” head coach Jeff Truitt said. “We made some really good plays and had good puck control in the neutral zone. We did a tremendous job of moving pucks and when we didn’t have it, we were physical and got to the front of the net.”
The first period started with four penalties handed out in the opening 7:50. The Raiders killed off a penalty, and then were given a five on three penalty shortly after, which they failed to convert on. In total, the Raiders went 0/2 on the powerplay in the first period, while the Tigers went 0/4 on their chances.
Things heated up with 5:57 left in the first, as Grady Martin dropped the gloves with Nate Corbet. The two danced at center ice, and it was Martin making quick work of his counter part, landing a couple of good blows before being taken down to the ice. The two were still barking at each other after the fact, which gave them 10 minute misconducts on top of the five minutes for fighting.
With 2:56 left in the opening frame, Prince Albert opened the scoring on a delayed penalty, but it took a very long video review to confirm the goal. Niall Crocker took a shot-pass towards Brayden Dube, who deflected the puck just over the net. It took a bounce off the end boards and came over the net, and Dube batted it home on his backhand. The official by the net waved the goal off for a high stick, as Dube’s stick was nearly at the cross bar. It took a long video review and discussion near the penalty box, but the call was reversed, and Dube was awarded his 11th goal of the season to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
Dube wasn’t finished there, as he scored another goal, and it came on another delayed penalty, after Cole Peardon was cross checked into the boards. With the net empty, Justice Christensen took a skate down the left wing and towards the goal line. The defenceman threw a pass on net that made its way through skates and onto Dube’s stick. Dube fired a shot five hole that just snuck through Ethan McCallum. Medicine Hat tried to clear the puck, but it had already crossed the goal line, as Dube collected his second goal of the frame to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
“Dube gets a couple at the net front which was great, being able to play that inside game,” Truitt said.
While they scored on two delayed penalties in the first period, the Raiders scored a powerplay goal in the second period to add to their lead. After winning a puck battle along the right wall, Sloan Stanick skated up to the point and fired a shot on goal. Parked in front was Niall Crocker, who got his stick on the shot to deflect home his 16th goal of the season.
Crocker’s goal was the only one in the middle frame, as Prince Albert took a 3-0 lead into the third period, while also leading 23-18 in shots.
The Tigers pushed back in the third period, scoring twice to make things interesting. They converted for the first time on the powerplay 5:55 into the final frame, as Shane Smith blasted a shot past Max Hildebrand to make it a 3-1 game.
Less than four minutes later, Jack Kachkowski scored his first goal of the season for the Tigers, walking down the left wing and beating Hildebrand five hole to make it a 3-2 game.
“When the pressure was on (from Medicine Hat), we knew it would come,” Truitt added. “That’s a good team and they got two by us, but we bent and didn’t break.”
Despite the late pressure from Medicine Hat, the Raiders were able to hang on to win by a 3-2 final.
“Our speed was on display tonight because we were moving the puck efficiently,” said Truitt. “We kept things going north and we didn’t have to start and stop a lot. We had a few turnovers, but I thought our speed came through.”
The club improves to 22-24-1-3 on the season, and is back in action on Wednesday night as they welcome the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Puck drops at 7pm.
